Riyad Mahrez will be the next target for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli after Roberto Firmino and Edouard Mendy with the Man City star to be offered £43m-a-year plus bonuses
Riyad Mahrez will be the next target for Al-Ahli if the Saudi Arabian club can wrap up deals for Roberto Firmino and Edouard Mendy.
Goalkeeper Mendy is set to become the latest Chelsea player to switch to the Saudi Pro League – following in the footsteps of N’Golo Kante and Kalidou Koulibaly – while Firmino will have a medical at Al-Ahli after leaving Liverpool as a free agent.
Manchester City star Mahrez is next on the list and he will be offered £43million-a-year plus bonuses for a two-year contract.
It’s understood that Mahrez, who is currently on holiday in the south of France, is interested in ending his career in Saudi.
He will be 33 in February and the Al-Ahli offer is five-times bigger than the £8.5m-a-year contract extension he signed at City last summer.
Riyad Mahrez (pictured) could be the next player on his way to Saudi Arabia as clubs in the Middle Eastern state continue to make waves in the transfer market this summer
Al-Ahli are said to be interested in Mahrez (left) and will reportedly offer him a contract that is worth five-times his current deal with Man City
Firmino (left) and Mendy (right) are both targets for Al-Ahli and the club will look to wrap up deals for both players before approaching Mahrez
However, Mahrez is said to be uncertain about leaving City this summer having just won the Treble under Pep Guardiola, even though the Algeria winger was disappointed with his lack of game time towards the end of the season when he was an unused substitute in the finals of the Champions League and FA Cup.
It’s also questionable that City would allow Mahrez – who is under contract until 2025 – to follow free agent Ilkay Gundogan out of the Etihad with Bernardo Silva also attracting interest from Al-Hilal.
The ambition and financial might of the Saudi clubs is clear as they continue to target top European stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, who have joined Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Callum Hudson Odoi are two of the other Chelsea players on the Saudi radar, while Steven Gerrard and Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui have been linked with the managerial vacancies at Ettifaq and Al-Hilal.
Al-Ahli have returned to the Saudi top-flight after surprisingly being relegated and are one of the four founding clubs – including Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad – that were taken over earlier this month by the country’s Public Investment Fund that also owns Newcastle United.
Mahrez (pictured) is uncertain about leaving Manchester City this summer after winning the Treble with Pep Guardiola’s side this season
