Gary Lineker believes Leicester City’s acquisition of Riyad Mahrez in 2014 is the best pound-for-pound Premier League signing in history.
The Manchester City wide man secured a move from French club Le Havre to the Foxes for just €450,000 (£400,000). He would go on to be a key cog in Leicester’s incredible 2015/16 Premier League title triumph, scoring 17 goals that season and winning Premier League Player of the Year.
Mahrez stayed on at the King Power Stadium for another two seasons, helping Leicester to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2017, before moving to City for £61m in 2018. That was the highest fee the club had ever received for a player prior to Harry Maguire ’s £80m move to Manchester United the following summer.
Since then, Mahrez has won a further two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and three League Cups. He also captained Algeria to Africa Cup of Nations glory in 2019 before reaching the Champions League final last season.
The attacker has had a stellar campaign so far, comfortably City’s highest scorer with 21 goals, eight more than second-placed Raheem Sterling. It means he has scored once every 109 minutes this term with a shot accuracy of 61 per cent.
Mahrez’s goal conversion rate from this is 28 per cent - the highest in the squad. He’s also bagged eight assists in the 35 matches he’s featured in.
The 31-year-old is currently preparing for Algeria’s vital World Cup play-off clash with Cameroon next week. They start the two-legged tie away from home next Friday (March 25) before hosting the return leg four days later. Algeria have not competed at a World Cup since Brazil 2014, their fourth-ever appearance at a finals.
Sign up to our City newsletter so you never miss an update from the Etihad Stadium this season.
