Mahrez still main man for Claude
CLAUDE PUEL is planning talks with Riyad Mahrez to discuss his future after Leicester’s title-winning star inspired this victory over Huddersfield.
Mahrez scored one and made another as fellow Algerian Islam Slimani came in from the cold to reignite his Foxes career.
But with the transfer window open and Mahrez back in form, his future is certain to dominate conversation around the King Power Stadium.
And Puel, below, is preparing for conversations he hopes will avoid another month of speculation over the player who has produced six goals and four assists in the Frenchman’s 13 league games in charge.
“I’d like to keep our best players,” said Puel. “We will ask him the question, for me I am happy to play with the team with Riyad, with Jamie Vardy and others.
“There will be speculation about Riyad but I want to keep my best players. It was a complete game for him today, very good with the ball and without the ball.”
Slimani provided a reminder of why Leicester paid £29million for him 18 months ago.
After spending much of Puel’s reign not even in matchday squads, the former Sporting Lisbon striker was handed a reprieve and grabbed it with a goal and a man-of-the-match display in the absence of the injured Vardy.
“I’m happy for Slim,” said Puel. “It was a good game, a fantastic goal. He kept a positive attitude in training sessions and he got his reward today to score.”
It was a day of positives all round for Puel with Adrien Silva making his debut as a substitute four months after his £22m move from Sporting Lisbon was effectively put on ice when the Foxes missed the deadline to register him with FIFA by just 14 seconds.
But by the time he arrived Puel’s men had already overpowered the Terriers. They survived a scare before the break when Huddersfield midfielder Danny Williams went down on the edge of the box under a challenge from Harry Maguire, who would have faced a red card had he been penalised. Instead, referee Graham Scott waved away the appeals and Mahrez opened the scoring in the 53rd minute with a fine, cushioned volley from a Marc Albrighton cross, before passing for Slimani to double the lead seven minutes later.
Albrighton added the third late on to leave Huddersfield without a win in four games. Terriers boss David Wagner said: “We did well for 60 minutes. We worked well and were aggressive but we made too many easy mistakes. The small margins went against us.”