Riyad Mahrez Transfer News & Odds

Since signing for Manchester City in the summer of 2018 for a fee of around £60m, Algerian superstar Riyad Mahrez has played a key role in helping the club to two Premier League titles, three Carabao Cups, the FA Cup and in reaching the final of the UEFA Champions League.

Mahrez has also managed to win the African Cup of Nations in that time, helping his country to victory over Senegal in 2019. But with the winger’s contract situation currently in limbo, a host of clubs have reportedly registered interest in the winger and could look to make a move for him in the summer.

With his contract expiring in June of 2023, City may look to claw back some of the cash they spent on bringing Mahrez to the Etihad 4 years ago and selling him this summer would be the only way to do it - otherwise, he could walk away on a free transfer. With Manchester City’s recent signing of young forward Erling Braut Haaland adding to their already stacked forward line, could that be another reason to make Mahrez leave? Here, we take a look at the clubs who could try to sign him…

Riyad Mahrez has been linked with a move to Barcelona, and this is a move that could actually happen due to Barcelona looking likely to lose some of their attacking players in the summer.

The club are resigned to losing two of their wingers, with both Ousmane Dembele and Adama Traore unlikely to be at the Camp Nou come next season.

Traore has been poor since his return to his boyhood club, registering just two league assists since his January signing. And reports in the Spanish media have indicated that Barcelona haven’t been impressed with his performances, so they will not be activating the clause in his loan contract to make the move permanent.

In addition, Ousmane Dembele’s contract is up in June, and he has been linked with a move away from the club for many months now. The Frenchman has failed to impress ever since his £100m+ move from Borussia Dortmund, with inconsistent form and injuries plaguing the winger, so Barcelona may decide to cut their losses and let Dembele leave this summer.

A replacement would of course be needed for Dembele, and Mahrez would be a suitable one. Mahrez possesses the same speed and trickery as Dembele, but he is also a more prolific goalscorer than the former Rennes forward with over 120 career goals to his name compared to Dembele’s 54 – his goalscoring ability makes him an attractive option for any club that are looking for a winger, and Barcelona will definitely be looking for one when the transfer window opens.

The odds of this deal occurring are at 6/1 - Click on the link to claim this bet in your bet slip!

A move to Juventus is also on the cards for Mahrez, as manager Massimiliano Allegri looks to rebuild his Juventus squad after what has been an extremely disappointing 2021-22 campaign both domestically and in Europe.

A move for the Algerian makes sense for the Turin side, as they will be looking to rebuild their squad on the cheap after many years of spending big money.

Players such as Arthur Melo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Matthijs de Ligt have all joined Juventus in recent years, with the club shelling out over £60m on each of those three players. Just four months ago, they shelled out £58m plus add-ons for Fiorentina’s Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic.

Therefore, with Mahrez having just a year left on his contract; he represents a cheaper option for the club than if they were to look elsewhere. Juventus will also be seeing some of their forwards depart in the summer and will need to replace them, with Argentine attacker Paulo Dybala already confirmed to be leaving on a free transfer when the window opens.

On-loan Alvaro Morata has failed to impress during his second stint with the club, with the Spanish striker registering just 11 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions this season. Therefore, Juventus may decide to not exercise their option-to-buy clause in Morata’s loan deal.

Winger Federico Bernardeschi’s contract is up in June, and with another poor season for the Italian with just two goals and six assists in all competitions, he could be let go by the club.

Mahrez would be a good replacement for either of the aforementioned three, with his goalscoring ability arguably better than Morata’s, and he is a more dangerous prospect for opposition defenders to face than Bernardeschi or Dybala.

The odds of Riyad Mahrez joining The Old Lady are 7/1.

Could the winger make a return to French football? Mahrez was reportedly scouted by the Parisian side in his youth but turned them down and chose to instead play for perennial Ligue 2 side Le Havre, who he would spend four years of his career at.

PSG are likely to see some departures in the summer, with some of their key attackers out of contract in just a month.

Angel Di Maria and Kylian Mbappe are two such players, and both, especially Mbappe have been linked with moves elsewhere. Mbappe has been heavily linked with Real Madrid and it’s a deal that could happen, with contract negotiations still ongoing between Mbappe’s representatives and PSG amid heavy Madrid interest.

Di Maria has not had the greatest of seasons by his standards, with just 11 goal involvements in 30 appearances in all competitions and with the Argentine now 34 years of age, it might be the time where PSG look to let him go and replace him with someone younger.

Incidentally, Mahrez has put up better figures this season than all of PSG’s attackers bar Mbappe, with the Algerian (33 G/A) ahead of Messi (22 G/A) and Neymar (20 G/A), so he would be a good signing for PSG, and arguably, one of the club’s main men.

A return to France would give Mahrez the chance to pick up silverware in the country, with his previous spell in France with Le Havre not providing him with any opportunities to win a trophy. A move to PSG would be Mahrez’s first time playing in France’s top flight, and he would pretty much be guaranteed a league title were he to make the move to the French capital.

The odds of Mahrez joining PSG are at 7/1.

Despite all the winners medals that Mahrez has amassed during his time in England, there is one trophy that he hasn’t been able to win – the UEFA Champions League. Europe’s most prestigious club competition has always eluded Mahrez and his City teammates, although they have gotten remarkably close.

But with the embarrassing nature of their most recent defeat in the competition to Real Madrid in the semi-finals, Mahrez may feel that it just isn’t meant to be for The Citizens and the Champions League. But with Madrid’s history and success in the competition, could he make a move there to try and finally lift the famous old trophy?

Since spending around £120m on bringing Eden Hazard to the Santiago Bernabeu from Chelsea, Madrid have not seen any return on that investment, with the Belgian having scored a mere six goals for Los Blancos.

Another issue for the club is that Hazard has struggled with injury since his arrival, missing a stunning 74 matches through injury. With the huge transfer fee and presumably sky-high wages being paid to Hazard for not much return, Madrid may decide to bring in a replacement like Mahrez, who would be cheaper in both transfer fee and wage aspects.

Even if Madrid were to keep Hazard, Gareth Bale will be leaving the club in the summer, and so a replacement for the Welshman will be needed – Mahrez could be the player to fill the Welshman’s void.

And so, a transfer to Madrid for the Algerian is currently at 8/1 odds.

With Chelsea currently lacking in wingers at the moment, could a move for Mahrez be on the cards to plug that gap in Chelsea’s squad?

With reports of a new owner for the Blues likely to be confirmed soon, Chelsea certainly would still be able to afford the transfer fee and Mahrez’s wage demands, so this is a deal that could happen.

Christian Pulisic is really the only consistent out-and-out wide player for the Blues but he is not a consistent threat to the opposition. With just 25 goals in over 100 appearances for the club, Pulisic has failed to show why Chelsea spent nearly £60m to bring him to London.

Hakim Ziyech is a threat but he likes to drift into central areas rather than stay near the touchline all game, so he can not really be classed as a winger. The only other option for Chelsea is academy graduate Callum Hudson-Odoi, but the 21-year-old has not exactly set the world alight since being promoted to the first team - in 72 Premier League appearances for the Blues, Hudson-Odoi has scored just four goals.

So with new club owners likely to be confirmed soon, one of their first priorities may be to sign a winger who offers a goalscoring threat, and Mahrez could be the player that the club decide to go for.

While a transfer to Chelsea is unlikely it can’t fully be ruled out due to Chelsea’s squad needs, with the odds currently standing at 12/1.