Leicester 3 Huddersfield 0
How do I make Mahrez stay? I talk to him in French
RIYAD MAHREZ came up with one of the goals of the season – and launched Leicester’s fight to keep him.
The Algerian asked for a transfer last summer, but when only Roma bid £32million it ended the conversation.
Now Leicester manager Claude Puel is hoping to head off a repeat in this month’s window. “We will talk to Mahrez,” said the Leicester manager. “We will ask him. It is a question for him.
“For me, I am happy to play with a team with Mahrez in it. It is important to keep him. It is speculation to think about this. Mahrez is with us and I want to keep all of my best players. “This was a fantastic game for Mahrez. Good feet, quality, audacity with the ball and he was good without the ball also.” Puel promised to “seduce” Mahrez (below) into staying when he took over as Leicester boss 13 games ago. It has worked up to a point because in that time Mahrez has scored six goals and made four more. How has Puel managed to get the best out of Mahrez after his quiet start to the season?
“I speak to him in French,” said Puel with a smile.
Those impressive statistics make it obvious how important Mahrez is to Leicester – and how much his transfer value has increased.
If it was £32m last year, the fee must have more than doubled now. Mahrez’s ninth goal of the season was a diamond.
Huddersfield, awkward to get past to that point, twice tried to head the ball clear in the 53rd minute but then Marc Albrighton hooked the ball in.
Mahrez showed great technique as he hit a sidefooted volley. It was also Mahrez’s pass that sent Islam Slimani ahead of Huddersfield’s defence seven minutes later and Slimani finished well, dinking the ball over keeper Jonas Lossl for his first league goal since April.
Slimani was in the side because of injury to Jamie Vardy. And he made the most of it.
It was Slimani and sub Demarai Gray who sliced Huddersfield apart in added time and Albrighton collected himself an easy tap-in goal at the far post.
Wilfred Ndidi also hit the woodwork as Leicester let rip in the second half and ended a run of five games without a win that had dimmed the light on Puel’s start at the club.
It became the perfect day when Adrien Silva, their £22m buy who has had to wait five months to get a game because his summer transfer was not registered in time, got clearance and made his debut as an 85thminute substitute.