Imagine an attack on Real Madrid composed by Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and… Riyad Mahrez. Well this association could have been born! A few years ago, Real Madrid was very close to signaling the Algerian international. Then trained by Zinedine Zidane, the Madrid club was strongly interested in the services of the 2016 African Ballon d'Or.
In an interview with the media Squarethe current Al-Ahli player returned to this episode of his career and the reason which prevented him from signing with the Merengues. “Before we start the year when we are champions (with Leicester), I sign a new contract where they tell me that they want to put me a liberating clause of 25 million euros. I was getting out of a year when we maintained each other at the last moment, and I said no, I thought it was too much. In the end, I finished best premier league player, we win the championship, and all the clubs want me ”, he confides.
But this clause, the right winger should have signed it. Craftsman of the Historic Foxes and designated best Premier League player thanks to his good performances (18 goals and 10 assists in 39 matches), Riyad Mahrez has logically seen his market value increases, thus pushing Leicester to claim much more important sums than these 25 million euros to let go. “All the clubs wanted me, and if I had this clause, I would probably have gone to Real Madrid. The meetings, we had done everything. But Leicester asked too much, so I stayed ”, he regrets.
Manchester City rather than Real Madrid
The rest of Riyad Mahrez's career, everyone knows her. After continuing the adventure with Leicester, the Fennec took over the management of Manchester City in 2018, for an amount of 67.8 million euros.
Under the orders of Pep Guardiola, the right winger played 236 matches, scored 78 goals and issued 59 assists. He notably won a Champions League before engaging in Saudi Arabia in 2023.
