Riyad Mahrez left Leicester City this summer and as we predicted a new life at Manchester City will be more difficult and challenging, but today he showed what a class player he is, two goals in the game v. Cardiff City.
Mahrez came on as a sub, replacing Sergio Aguero in the 61st minute, just a few minutes later he had scored two goals in his stylish way, just as he did for Leicester City during his time at the club.
So far it’s been a bit of a struggle to get into the the “swing of things” under Pep Guardiola, but he is very much involved and will compete at the very highest level for Manchester City.
The £65 million move, of course a record sale by Leicester City, shows how much value have increased among Leicester City players, and how you can by joining this club, go to the sky of international football.
Leicester City had 10 different players at the World Cup this summer, and are now among those clubs delivering the most to the England national team, even without Jamie Vardy there are at least four players either included or close to a full international call up.
The now 27 year old Mahrez, who was signed from Le Havre back in 2014 for a fee of £400 000, shows the way for amazing talent with a dream hiding in the shadows. So how is it possible to progress from such a scene into the limelight of top football.
Hopefully Claude Puel, the current Leicester City manager, will understand how he should recruit players, either from own ranks, at a lower level or just by good connections abroad and stay away from other Premier League clubs and just bring the team forward.
The amazing rise of Mahrez is an example to follow, the same can be said about Jamie Vardy who has signed a new five year deal and will stay the rest of his best years at Leicester City, today delivering a top performance.
The other players knocking on the England door, James Maddison and Demarai Gray together with full internationals Harry Maguire and Ben Chilwell are great examples on how you bring talent forward, fantastic to watch.
Either coming up from the youth system, or signed from clubs lower in the system. Gray coming in from Birmingham and James Maddison signed from Norwich. Maddison is today a class act and his free kick the 2-1 goal is just fantastic.
So please continue the Leicester City way, and hopefully Kelechi Iheanacho who in a way “switched” with Mahrez, with a deficit of £40 million, makes an impressive performance. In the big picture we see a pattern to follow.
Riyad Mahrez has since joining Man City played 6 official games, and scored 2 goals. if he continue in that way, he will be a legend at Etihad in the next two or three years, and for those who believe he will “not shine”, forget it, Guardiola will take care of that and get Mahrez to an even higher level, Tcf predicts.
Today Mahrez comes in from the bench together with John Stones and Phil Foden. Gabriel Jesus, Vincent Kompany and David Silva were all unused subs, so be careful with judgements and talk about Mahrez, he will shine, and yes, as a former fox with a very special status, we wish him all the best, at least Tcf does.
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