MIRROR
Manchester City could try to replace Saudi-Arabia bound Riyad Mahrez with Barcelona’s £40m-rated winger Raphinha.
Pep Guardiola is understood to admire Raphinha and City are weighing up a move, with Barca needing to raise funds before they can register their new signings. Mahrez is joining Saudi side Al-Ahli after City accepted a £30m bid for the winger.
Mahrez was left out of City’s travelling squad for their pre-season tour of the Far East after the two clubs agreed the fee. The 32-year-old winger, who joined City from Leicester in 2018 for £60m, was given permission to miss the tour after City received a fresh bid that met their valuation.
Raphinha joined Barcelona in a £55m move from Leeds last summer and has 10 goals and 12 assists in 50 appearances for the club. But Barca may be forced into selling with their well-publicised financial problems still affecting Xavi Hernandez’s transfer plans.
The 26-year-old winger would represent a like-for-like replacement for Mahrez, who will leave City with an excellent record behind him. The Algeria international made 236 appearances for City, scoring 78 goals, and won four Premier League titles – to add to the one he won at Leicester – three League Cups, two FA Cups and the Champions League under Pep Guardiola.
After being left on the bench in the finals of the Champions League and FA Cup last month, Mahrez decided he needed a new challenge, with Bernardo Silva preferred on the right wing for both matches. Al Ahli have offered him a two-year deal worth a whopping £40m per season.
Recently-promoted Al Ahli are one of four clubs – along with Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad – who were taken over in June by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has raided the Premier League for its stars, with the promise of huge salaries.
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