Leicester City have ruled out selling Riyad Mahrez this month but the Algeria international is yet to commit to a new contract, sources close to the club have said.
Mahrez’s future at Leicester has been the subject of speculation this summer with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea linked with a move for last season’s PFA Player of the Year.
Sources have said that Mahrez was open to a move away from Leicester this summer, but the club will not allow him to follow N’Golo Kante in leaving this summer.
Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri told Sky Sports News on Wednesday: “Kante had a clause and Chelsea paid it, but Riyad does not have the clause and he will stay with us.”
Mahrez has been offered a new long-term deal but the player has so far rejected the club’s advances, although the offer of a new four-year contract remains on the table.
A source close to the player said that the 25-year-old attacker, who joined Leicester from Le Havre in 2014, could ask for a release clause to be inserted into his new contract if he is to put pen to paper.
Mahrez is set to be in the starting lineup for Leicester’s opening game of the new Premier League season against Hull City this weekend.
Ranieri said that he expects Mahrez to carry last season’s form into the new campaign and avoid becoming distracted by the transfer speculation.
“He is in good condition,” Ranieri said. “Maybe we have to pass the ball a little more often to him. He is the winger and if no one passes to the wingers, I can pass the ball from the bench.
“He is in good form, believe me. In the training sessions he is the same. During the match you can play well or not but it’s important to watch during the training session and he is very good.
“It’s not a problem. When there is all this attention around your name it’s because you are doing well.
“The speculation is normal. He is a big player and he needs to feel there are other teams and managers who want him.”
Ranieri also jokingly reiterated that he will not let Mahrez, who scored 18 goals last season, leave.
He added: “Never has Riyad come to me and said: ‘Coach, I want to go’ because I’ll kill him before he tells me this! He’s a lucky man.”
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