Algerian national team and Al-Ahli star Riyad Mahrez has revealed that his biggest career dream was to wear the Barcelona jersey and play on the same team as Lionel Messi. The winger, who won numerous trophies with Manchester City, shared that he was very close to joining the Catalan club at one point. This is reported by Goal.com reports .
Mahrez, who became a Premier League champion with Leicester City, became one of the most sought-after players in Europe following their historic 2016 triumph. According to the player, he received offers from giants such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester United at the time. However, high transfer fees and certain contract clauses prevented his dream from coming true.
"My dream was to play for Barcelona under Pep Guardiola alongside Lionel Messi. I held negotiations with many clubs before joining Manchester City. But Leicester demanded a very high fee to let me go. Because there was no release clause in my contract, the transfer did not happen," Mahrez noted.
Mahrez compared his situation to that of his former teammate N’Golo Kante. Kante was able to move to Chelsea easily because he had a 30 million euro release clause in his contract. Riyad, having opted out of such a clause, was forced to stay at Leicester for two more years.
Despite failing to move to the Spanish giants, Mahrez's career continued successfully. He joined Manchester City for 60 million pounds in 2018 and, after winning numerous titles under Guardiola, earned a reputation as one of the best African players in English football history.
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