Man City locked in £75m Riyad Mahrez transfer talks: Pep Guardiola wants deal done

MANCHESTER CITY are locked in talks to get their £75m deal for Riyad Mahrez over the line.

Posted Wednesday, May 30, 2018 by Dailystar.co.uk

Man City locked in £75m Riyad Mahrez transfer talks: Pep Guardiola wants deal done
Man City are close to completing the signing of Riyad Mahrez from Leicester

The Premier League champions plan to pay £60m up front, with another £15m in performance-related add-ons to secure the Leicester winger.

It means that Mahrez, 27, is finally set to get his move to the Etihad Stadium almost five months after a deal fell through.

City tried to get the former PFA player of the year in January by offering £50m plus young winger Patrick Roberts in part-exchange – but Leicester demanded a cash only bid.

Mahrez has been trying to force a move away for the best part of a year, and was frustrated as the Foxes refused to sell him to Roma last summer.

He took on Kia Joorabchian as his agent after that as he tried to seal a switch to a Champions League club – and was furious when his move to City also failed.

Guardiola is keen to get his transfer business done quickly to ensure he has as much of the pre-season as possible to work with new players before City's Premier League title defence begins.

Mahrez will get a full pre-season at the Etihad Stadium as he is not going to the World Cup – with Algeria failing to qualify after finishing bottom of their group.