CITY SPECIAL Mahrez move can be great deal for Pep
HAVING already changed the perception of a number of City stars in his two years at the club, can Pep Guardiola transform Riyad Mahrez?
To say the Blues are about to break their club record transfer fee to bring in the Leicester forward, the jury is still out for the Algerian. Words including ‘inconsistent’ and ‘overpriced’ have popped up in comment sections and he came bottom of a recent M.E.N. transfer poll as some Blues question whether the new man is good enough to be a first-team star.
After the season they have enjoyed, doubts are understandable over a player that went on strike in January when he didn’t get his move to the Etihad.
There is no real mystery about the player, having plied his trade in the Premier League as opposed to other, more exotic targets.
City have dropped their habit of buying from teams lower down the league and the last five arrivals Scott Sinclair, Jack Rodwell, Wilfried Bony, Fabian Delph, John Stones have all had at least some difficulty stepping up a level.
What chance, then, of Leicester’s finest ousting any of the players that were part of the most potent attack ever seen in the Premier League?
The danger in judging Mahrez’s impending move to City is expecting too much.
Despite his 2016 PFA gong, the former Le Havre player has never been a superstar.
N’Golo Kante received as much credit for Leicester’s unlikely title win and has since enhanced his reputation with Chelsea while the Foxes have slipped down the table and out of mind since.
He won’t be City’s best player despite being their most expensive (but then Aymeric Laporte hasn’t been either) and it is a stretch to believe he would oust Raheem Sterling or Leroy Sane from the starting line-up.
Because of all that, Mahrez looks a perfect Guardiola signing.
The City coach has a finely tuned arsenal of attacking intent ready to obliterate any defence.
Sane has speed and power, Sterling is the unorthodox gambler and Bernardo Silva a first touch passed down from the gods.
The fact Mahrez shares attributes with all three and also possesses a readiness to trick opponents and shoot on sight means he is, of course, going to get game time.
As was the case last season, it won’t be a case of a first team as much as choosing which skillset is best suited to hurt the opposition.
Mahrez shouldn’t have an issue with being used predominantly wide right, particularly if it allows Bernardo to move inside to cover for David Silva or Sterling to be used centrally as Guardiola has hoped to do on a number of occasions.
And as the 27-year-old improves City, can the club repay the favour?
There was an interesting piece around the time Barcelona paid £145m for Philippe Coutinho questioning why Mahrez was not perceived as a marquee player.
A move to the Etihad will not change that, but the way Guardiola has improved the profile and value of every other City forward suggests the Mahrez deal could work out well for all parties.