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Riyad Mahrez: Leicester forward 'could cost over £100m'

Last updated on .From the section Leicestercomments85

Riyad Mahrez scoring for Leicester against Huddersfield on 1 January
Riyad Mahrez scored his seventh league goal of the season against Huddersfield on 1 January

Leicester City forward Riyad Mahrez could be worth more than £100m, says Foxes manager Claude Puel.

Mahrez, 26, said in May that he wanted to leave the Foxes and Italian club Roma had three bids rejected.

But Puel says the Algeria international - who is still being linked with a move away - is "enjoying his football" with the 2016 Premier League champions.

"It is always the same thing about Riyad," said Puel. "It is just rumours, noise about him and other players."

Only two players have completed permanent transfers for more than £100m.

Paris St-Germain paid Barcelona £200m for Neymar last summer, while fellow Brazil international Philippe Coutinho completed a £142m move from Liverpool to Barcelona earlier this month.

France striker Kylian Mbappe will cost PSG £165.7m at the end of his initial loan spell from Monaco.

"Perhaps in the summer he will cost even more than £100m," Frenchman Puel added. "It is speculation and we cannot respond to all the speculation with information.

"We can see Riyad smiling and enjoying his football and enjoying playing with his team-mates - and it is the same in training."

Mahrez joined Leicester from French club Le Havre for a reported £400,000 in 2014.

He was voted the 2016 PFA Player of the Year as he helped the Foxes to their remarkable title triumph and has scored seven goals in 23 league games this season.

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85 comments

  • Comment posted by Chelsea1, at 20:08 15 Jan 2018

    At £100million, he will remain at Leicester city forever.

  • Comment posted by User0420047092, at 20:09 15 Jan 2018

    .

    If you think the transfer fees are high now

    WAIT until

    Google, Amazon, Netflix and Apple get involved

    They make Sky and BT look like a corner shop

    .

  • Comment posted by Bezz, at 20:59 15 Jan 2018

    If you don't want to sell stick a daft price on, if someone pays it more fool them. Its win win for the seller.

  • Comment posted by just-for-fun, at 20:06 15 Jan 2018

    after the Neymar deal, everyone is getting greedy!!!!!!

  • Comment posted by Stephen, at 20:44 15 Jan 2018

    Puel is correct that Mahrez is enjoying life at Leicester.Although he may wish to leave he is not sulking & doing a Sanchez or Coutino, but just getting on with the job he should be doing under contract. With our our shrewd owners they will ensure he sees his contract through unless they believe the time is right...not the other way round! On the other hand Puel is talking up the player's value.

  • Comment posted by BoingBoingRich, at 21:11 15 Jan 2018

    Baggies fan here and a fan of Mahrez. He is completely under-rated. Leicester won the league, should have made the CL semi's too. Yet still, because their name is Leicester, their players aren't allowed to command the same fees as clubs like Liverpool. It's a nonsense. In the current market he has to be worth at least 75M. Arsenal want 30M for Walcott! His ability and attitude are second to none.

  • Comment posted by D1679556226443, at 04:54 16 Jan 2018

    To be fair to him, Mahrez has behaved professionally throughout these transfer windows.

    He's expressed his desire to move on but hasn't spat his dummy out or refused to play. More players should be like that.

  • Comment posted by jmic, at 20:44 15 Jan 2018

    All football now is overpriced and not a working mans game anymore if you had two kids who wanted to go and watch their beloved club at home and you sometimes get two games in the week there is no way you could afford it but wait until Netflix, Amazon, Google etc get involved ENTER THE BIG BOYS AT THE TABLE then the stakes really will be silly you can put the game to bed my son

  • Comment posted by McGaz, at 20:04 15 Jan 2018

    He has the potential to be a first team player for any of the top 6, but he had a great season followed by a mediocre one - and playing well this year. That inconsistency and with the desire to leave will mean they won't get £100m for him.

    £40m seems a bit cheap in today's market, so perhaps £50-55m is about right.

  • Comment posted by Knighton Ant, at 21:12 15 Jan 2018

    There's little doubt that at £40 million he was under priced. Leicester need to be firm in their resolve not to sell their best players, so that they can push on and take the "has beens" Arsenal's place as a regular finisher in the top 6, play regularly in Europe and push for silverware.

    The Foxes are NOT a selling club!!!

  • Comment posted by DeBenjamin, at 21:10 15 Jan 2018

    Leicester hold all the cards- 2.5 years on his contract, no need for the money, player seemingly happy to carry on playing for the club and in great form. Why would we sell for less that what VVD went for?

    Seen a few Liverpool fans on social media saying £100m is ridiculous, but their club has set the tone in this market.

    All speculation anyway, I'm just enjoying watching him play.

  • Comment posted by Fartface, at 22:57 15 Jan 2018

    The problem is Money. Money now rules football. It has turned the players into commodities that can be traded at obscene amounts. It has made ticket prices soar nearly 1000% over the last 10-15 years. It has turned broadcasters into guinea pigs all scrapping for a piece of the pie thus creating satanic offsprings like BT sport etc.. & it all comes at a cost. That cost is us. The people.

  • Comment posted by AC1978_2018, at 20:53 15 Jan 2018

    Nah, insane. There are a lot of factors. Age, length of contract, merchandising revenue, potential improvement and many others. You can't possibly rate Mahrez at 100m. Sanchez would be a snip at 35m and sure contract is a huge factor in that price and age too but even so 100m is just trash talk from Puel. Those analysts in soccer metrics and player value algorithms need to give their heads a shake

  • Comment posted by chrisgeeza, at 20:14 15 Jan 2018

    He should sign for Carlisle United - real team

  • Comment posted by Vox Populi, at 20:37 15 Jan 2018

    As a winger, Mahrez is a very risky buy at £100m. On his day he can be magnificent but he can drift out of games, and be inconsistent. If a club bought him for a huge amount of money, well he could potentially be an Eden Hazard and be on fire all season, or an Angel Di Maria at Man Utd type buy. It could potentially be a lot of money down the drain.

  • Comment posted by VanImpe, at 20:07 15 Jan 2018

    A postman from Madagascar could get £100k a week in that league with a daft haircut and a tattoo. As long as you can cover 10k in 90 minutes including some starjumps.

  • Comment posted by User0638418214, at 20:47 15 Jan 2018

    £100m?

    Only Utd would pay that....

  • Comment posted by jmic, at 21:02 15 Jan 2018

    31st March is a no show day for football let the genuine supporter make the difference if we have the bottle bring football back to the fans, if you want to lower prices at the ground or on TV make a stand its your only choice or be ripped off and made a mug of forever don't let the uncaring and greedy clubs and TV get away with it they are not bothered about loyal supporters so don't be fooled

  • Comment posted by User0593293414, at 01:52 16 Jan 2018

    Even in this ridiculously inflated transfer market, no. Not that much.

    Ten years ago he’d have fetched perhaps £15M. If a club with money was keen to sign then it might have stretched to £25M.

    With the current bonkers fees you can “justify” (in purely market terms!) something between £50M and £75M based on comparables.

    As ever, if these numbers disgust you, please cancel your BT and Sky.

  • Comment posted by Vanilla Gorilla, at 20:10 15 Jan 2018

    Arsenal fan here. We really should have gone in for Mahrez in the summer. Would have been a perfect fit and would have got him cheaper too after an average 2016/2017 season. January 2018 - Sanchez leaving, Iwobi and Walcott far from good enough.