Mahrez staying at Leicester – until end of season

Matt Stead

Riyad Mahrez has confirmed he will not leave Leicester in January and will remain at the club – “until the end of the season”.

Mahrez has been one of the standout performers of this Premier League season for the table-topping Foxes, scoring or assisting more goals (18) than any other player so far.

As a result, the Algerian has been linked with a move away from the King Power Stadium in the winter transfer window, with Arsenal heavily linked in the winger.

But Mahrez insists he will not leave Leicester, although he perhaps tellingly adds that he will stay “until the end of the season”.

“It’s best for me to stay until the end of the season,” Mahrez told French radio station RMC. “I was at Le Havre, I had six months left but nobody came to get me. Leicester tried very hard to get me.

“I could feel that they wanted me. I took the decision without knowing the culture or the area. It was a risk.

“When you come from far away and you end up in the Premier League it makes you happy. I am happy that I signed for Leicester.”