City signs Leicester star Mahrez in record club deal

MANCHESTER City has signed Riyad Mahrez for a club-record 60 million pounds (US$80 million) as it further strengthens its team after winning the English Premier League title.

The 27-year-old Algeria winger was an integral part of Leicester City’s astonishing run to the title in 2016, but has been pushing to leave the central England club for a year. City, which won the league by 19 points in May, confirmed on Tuesday evening that Mahrez has signed a 5-year deal. Mahrez will go down as one of the bargains of the EPL era, having joined Leicester for a reported 400,000 pounds (now US$530,000) from French club Le Havre in 2014. Scoring 17 goals in Leicester’s title-winning campaign saw Mahrez voted as player of the year in England in 2016. “I am so pleased to have joined City, a side playing great football under Pep Guardiola. They’re redefining the English game and I wanted to be a part of it,” Mahrez said on City’s website.