The Leicester City star has confirmed Arsenal were keen to sign him.
Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez has told Canal Football Club that Arsenal did make a move for him in the summer transfer window.
The winger was heavily linked with an exit from the King Power Stadium in the close season after playing a key role in Leicester’s title-winning success last time out.
Arsenal were one of the clubs thought to be particularly keen, with L’Equipe claiming that they had made a £34 million bid for his services.
A move did not materialise as he ended up signing a new deal with the Premier League champions instead.
But he has confirmed that there was an approach from Arsene Wenger’s team to take him to the Emirates Stadium.
“There was contact with Arsenal,” he told Canal Football Club.
“But Leicester wanted to keep me and I was pretty expensive. I did not want to create a conflict when the offer came in.”
It now remains to be seen if the move proves to be a smart one for Mahrez in the coming months.
Leicester have failed to find the magic again so far, currently sitting 12th in the table after seven games.
Mahrez himself has not been in the best of form, managing just one goal in those games.
Getting him back to the kind of form that saw Arsenal chasing his signature will be key to Leicester moving up the table in the weeks and months ahead.
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