Riyad Mahrez spills beans on nearly joining Arsenal in the 2016 season

Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez has stated to British media outlets that he was about to join Arsenal back in 2016. The Algerian International had joined the back-to-back Premier League champions in 2018 for a reported fee of £61 million but slammed his former club Leicester City for not allowing him to leave in 2016.

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Leicester wasted Mahrez's precious years

The 28-year-old feels that he wasted two years of his career fighting relegation for Leicester at a time when he should have been at a big club competing for titles. Mahrez saw his Leicester team-mate N’Golo Kante depart for Chelsea, where he won another Premier League title in 2017, while Danny Drinkwater also left for the London club a year later.

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Mahrez claims that his agent had spoken to Arsene Wenger, the then Arsenal manager, who really was keen to have him on board. The deal was nearly all done with Arsenal in 2016. But Leicester’s hesitance to sell him was really frustrating. He states that it wasn't easy to go from being the best player in the Premier League to being a part of a team fighting against relegation.

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The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations winner has a brilliant record while playing for Pep Guardiola's City. He has scored 15 goals and assisted on 20 occasions in 58 appearances for the Premier League champions. But he has not been able to cement a permanent spot in Guardiola’s starting XI with just five starts in City's opening 12 league games this season. However, Guardiola holds the player in high esteem and is fond of the Algerian.

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Manchester City recently lost to League leaders Liverpool in the Premier League clash. This leaves them trailing nine points behind the Reds and they also move down to the fourth spot following wins for Leicester and Chelsea, who are second and third on the table respectively.