da apostebet： The Algerian did not always get the praise he deserved, but he was a crucial part of Pep Guardiola's side and leaves a gaping hole in the squad
da mrbet： When Riyad Mahrez left Manchester City last month to see out his career in the Saudi Pro League, the reaction was mostly of indifference. Unlike with Ilkay Gundogan, there had been no great clamour for the Algerian to stay at the Etihad Stadium, and given he is 32 and had barely featured in the team's run to the treble (in contrast to Gundogan), many fans were happy for the club to take the £30 million ($38m) transfer fee from Al Ahli and run.
Mahrez was often seen as at best a useful squad player, and at worst a selfish and frustrating player who had missed penalties at crucial moments. But over the course of five seasons, he had made an invaluable contribution, scoring 78 goals and making 59 assists in only 236 appearances, many of them off the bench.
While the likes of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Gundogan may have been the stars of City's historic season, their impressive squad depth was equally important in them winning every trophy that mattered, and their squad is significantly weaker without Mahrez.
Pep Guardiola will be more than aware of that, but so far he is yet to sign a replacement for the Algerian, instead prioritising the arrival of centre-back Josko Gvardiol and midfielder Mateo Kovacic, while also making a bid for West Ham playmaker Lucas Paqueta.
And in the Community Shield against Arsenal, he could see the limits of playing Bernardo Silva on the right wing, as the Portuguese was calmly dealt with by Gunners' full-back Jurrien Timber. In the end, it took a natural wide forward in Cole Palmer to come off the bench and score the breakthrough goal.
If City want to stand a chance of repeating last season's epic achievements they will need to find a successor to Mahrez, an incisive player who can make the difference against stubborn opponents. But who should they choose? GOAL runs through the options available to Guardiola:
Getty Michael Olise (Crystal Palace)
Michael Olise has a number of similarities with Mahrez, especially his remarkable control and a penchant for cutting inside from the right and on to his left foot. The French forward also has 'pausa', an ability to slow the play down while keeping a move flowing, which Guardiola values dearly.
Olise will have to improve his goal tally if he does join City, though. He scored only two goals in the Premier League last season, both of them injury-time strikes against Manchester United and West Ham, respectively. He did provide 11 assists, however, several of them from set-plays.
City have already declared their interest in Olise and are willing to pay up to £50 million ($63m) to get the France Under-21 international. However, they may have to wait until January to make their move, as Olise is still recovering from surgery he underwent to treat a torn hamstring sustained during the U21 European Championship in June.
Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesKaoru Mitoma (Brighton)
Kaoru Mitoma was one of many Brighton players who had escaped top clubs' radars until last season, but had a stunning debut campaign in the Premier League. The Japan international is one of the most exciting dribblers in the league and has plenty of end product too, scoring 10 times and providing eight assists to help the Seagulls finish sixth and qualify for Europe for the very first time.
The 26-year-old is a strong candidate to replace Mahrez as he has already posted similar figures to the Algerian in just one season in England, and he would not be prohibitively expensive. Around £50m ($63m) would be enough to persuade Brighton to part ways with Mitoma, who they paid just £2.7m ($3.4m) for in 2021.
Getty ImagesJeremy Doku (Rennes)
Rennes winger Jeremy Doku is of a slightly different profile to Mahrez and is a player most suited to teams that counter-attack due to his pace and dribbling ability. However, at the age of only 21, he could be moulded into a City player and master the art of possession football.
City are reportedly considering him as an option with little more than three weeks left of the transfer window. Doku would certainly be one of the cheaper players to replace Mahrez, costing less than £30m ($38m), although he would also be a gamble as he is not yet as productive as the likes of Mitoma, posting just six goals and two assists in Ligue 1 last season.
FC BarcelonaAnsu Fati (Barcelona)
Ansu Fati took world football by storm in 2019 by becoming the youngest player to score for Barcelona, the youngest to score in the Champions League and then the youngest to score for the Spain national team.
A thrilling start to his career was then seriously disrupted by knee injuries, but last season he managed to play in almost every Barcelona game in La Liga, hopefully demonstrating that his fitness troubles are behind him.
Barca's severe financial problems mean they would likely accept an offer in the region of £40m ($51m) for the forward, who inherited the No.10 jersey from Lionel Messi. That would be a great deal for City, considering Ansu is only 20 years old and already has four years experience of elite football in his legs.