Arsenal and Tottenham are reportedly set for a battle over the signature of Riyad Mahrez.
Alberto Moreno of Liverpool tackles Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City
According to The Mirror, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are both interested in signing Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez during the January transfer window.
Mahrez, 26, was a relative unknown when he joined Leicester from French second-tier side Le Havre in January 2014, but he has emerged as a Premier League star with the Foxes.
The winger may have only scored four times in 32 games in the 2014-15 season, but he helped fire Leicester to the Premier League title in 2016 with 17 league goals over the course of the campaign.
Algerian international Mahrez has been expected to leave Leicester in the last three transfer windows, but has ended up staying put at the King Power Stadium, much to his frustration.
The Daily Mail recently reported that Mahrez wants to leave Leicester in order to seal a dream move elsewhere, and two Premier League rivals appear to be interested.
The Mirror claim that North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham are poised to go head to head for Mahrez’s signature when the transfer window opens in January, with both Arsene Wenger and Mauricio Pochettino understood to be fans of the wide man.
Arsenal may be in the market for attacking reinforcements in January given that both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are out of contract at the end of the season, with Mahrez fitting the bill for the Gunners.
Meanwhile, Tottenham could look for extra creativity, but with Erik Lamela on his way back to fitness and only two spots for attacking players behind Harry Kane – usually occupied by Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen or Son Heung-min – it’s hard to see just where Mahrez would fit into this Spurs side right now.
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