Riyad Mahrez close to Manchester City move as Pep Guardiola prepares to set new club transfer record fee with £60m deal for Leicester ace
City were forced out of signing Mahrez in January after price went up to £90m but are now set to land him for more reasonable fee
MANCHESTER CITY are set to land Riyad Mahrez for a knockdown fee — but it will still break their transfer record.
The Premier League champions believe they can grab the Leicester ace for £60million.
City hoped to sign him in January but walked away when the cost of the deal spiralled to around £95m.
That included winger Patrick Roberts moving to the Foxes in part exchange — but was still considered way too high by boss Pep Guardiola.
However, talks have been ongoing since the end of the Prem season and sources close to the deal say it could be done in the next few days.
City were willing to pay around £60m in January for the former PFA Player of the Year. And they are still hopeful of getting their man — even though add-ons could up the figure.
A £60m fee would still surpass the £57m City paid Athletic Bilbao for centre-back Aymeric Laporte earlier this year.
Guardiola is also closing in on defensive midfielder Jorginho.
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City hope to secure Napoli’s Italy international for around £40m — but the Serie A giants are holding out for £52m. A compromise is expected.
Leicester are lining up Nice’s Tunisian winger Bassem Srarfi, 20, as a replacement for Mahrez.
