MAHREZ: NO LAUGH MEASURES
Wantaway star the butt of jokes but vows to give his all for Foxes
RIYAD MAHREZ has become the butt of jokes from Leicester teammates over his ill-fated efforts to quit on deadline day.
But boss Craig Shakespeare insists the star has remained professional and will be fired up to fight for the Foxes.
The 2016 PFA player of the year was given permission from the Algerian FA to leave their international camp on deadline day to finalise a transfer.
He broke off from preparations to play Zambia to fly to central Europe, with Leicester officials in the dark about his potential destination.
Manager Shakespeare even phoned £50million-rated Mahrez to find out what was going on.
But the Leicester playmaker ended up staying put at the King Power and is set to start against champions Chelsea today.
Shakespeare (above) revealed: “He has taken a bit of a ribbing but he will brush it off. I did ring him but it was an international dialling tone and I wasn’t quite sure where he was.
“I would have suggested he was at an airport somewhere but I wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint it.
“Riyad’s stance was very transparent from the word go. In the conversations I had with him he wanted to play for a top-six club. But having talked to him over the last couple of days I am in no doubt of his professionalism and commitment to Leicester.
“We have had a chat since he has come back and he is in a good frame of mind.
“The body language at the training ground has been excellent, which is really important to me and really important to the rest of the players.
“He gets a real ‘well done’ for the professionalism he has shown. It’s what we should all expect of course but in today’s climate it can sometimes be very different. ” While Mahrez has stayed, Leicester have been unable to sign Adrien Silva.
They agreed a £22m deal with Sporting Lisbon for Silva as replacement for Danny Drinkwater, who joined Chelsea for £35m on deadline day. But FIFA have blocked the deal because relevant documents were received 14 seconds after the deadline.
Leicester remain confident a deal will still be concluded – the 28-yearold Portugal international midfielder is a guest at the King Power today.
Silva is not allowed to train with Foxes yet but Shakespeare seems sure he will still replace Drinkwater, who slapped in a transfer request.
Shakespeare added: “Silva has similar qualities to Danny and he would be welcomed here with open arms.”