Riyad Mahrez would like to move to the Saudi 1st Division, but is waiting

Algerian international winger and Manchester City man Riyad Mahrez has found an agreement with the Saudi Arabian investment fund PIF over a possible move to the Saudi 1st division this summer and is waiting in the wings to found out whether or not the Pep Guardiola-led side will allow for a move to occur, according to our colleagues at Sports Zone.

Mahrez, 32, would be open to making the move to the Saudi 1st division, where he would join Roberto Firmino, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruben Neves, N’Golo Kanté, Karim Benzema and a growing number of star players, as the Middle Eastern country makes major investments into improving the quality of the domestic club game.

Mahrez has found a provisional salary agreement with PIF worth close to €25m a year and he has informed the Manchester City board of this fact, according to the report. The player believes that now is the moment to make a change following his being an integral part of a treble winning campaign which saw MCFC win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions’ League in the 2022/23 campaign.

However, Mahrez will not attempt to force the move – he has too strong a relationship with the club, but is still hoping that they will facilitate the move anyway.

City had planned to retain Mahrez this summer as they have, for several months, been fearing the possibility of losing Portuguese international attacking midfielder Bernardo Silva, who is keen to make a move to PSG. Pep Guardiola is refusing to accept a situation where both Mahrez and Silva leave this summer.

GFFN | James Thorpe