Guardiola to hold crunch Mahrez talks as City star eyes big money move to Saudi

13 July 2023 , 16:58

647     0

Guardiola to hold crunch Mahrez talks as City star eyes big money move to Saudi

Riyad Mahrez will hold talks with Pep Guardiola about his Manchester City future amid interest from Saudi Arabia.

Treble winners City are bracing themselves for a £30million offer from Al-Ahli for the Algerian international, although no formal bid has been submitted yet. It is understood Guardiola does not want to lose Mahrez and would like the 33-year-old – who has two years left on his contract – to stay.

But Mahrez could become the latest Premier League star to play in the lucrative Saudi league, where he can triple his wages. Mahrez currently earns around £150,000-a-week at City, but could see his salary rocket to £450,000-a-week with a move to the Saudi league.

Winger Mahrez was unhappy with his lack of game time towards the end of last season and could decide the time is right for him to move on. Mahrez was an unused substitute in both the Champions League and FA Cup finals and wants assurances about playing time at City before making a decision.

Al-Ahli have returned to the Saudi top-flight after being relegate and are one of the league's four founding clubs - including Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad - that were taken over earlier last month by the country's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which also owns Newcastle United. If he does decide to join Al-Ahli, Mahrez would link up with former Chelsea star Edouard Mendy, who signed for the Saudi club last month.

Pep Guardiola went back on his word after blocking last-ditch Barcelona transfer

Should Mahrez, who has 78 goals in 236 appearances for City, decide to head to the Middle East, it would be another huge coup for the Saudi Super League. Teammate Bernardo Silva has also been linked with a move.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Riyad Mahrez stay at Man City? Comment below.

Mahrez and Guardiola will hold crunch talks (PA)

And Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is reportedly on the brink of completing a deal, having been offered an eye-watering wage of £700,000 per week by the Knights of Ad-Dahna. That would more than quadruple his current salary at Liverpool, with the club captain currently on £190,000 per week.

But the developments have angered Liverpool LGTB+ group, Kop Outs, who on Thursday released a statement saying that they hoped that Henderson would "prove to be a man of his word" and remain in England. "Kop Outs have valued the allyship shown by Jordan Henderson," they said.

"We are appalled and concerned that anyone might consider working for a sportswashing operation for a regime where women and LGBT+ people are oppressed and that regularly tops the world death sentence table. We hope that Jordan Henderson proves to be a man of his word and stays true to the values of our club, which so far he has been an absolute embodiment of."

David McDonnell