Leicester didn't want to sell me, says Mahrez

Leicester City managed to hold on to Riyad Mahrez in pre-season, but the player was left frustrated by how the club handled his desire to leave.

Leicester City, according to the winger, didn't want to sell Riyad Mahrez despite the Algerian winger putting in a transfer request

Riyad Mahrez was left frustrated by Leicester City "blocking stuff behind the scenes" when he wanted to leave the club. The Algeria winger was persuaded to remain at the King Power Stadium after it secured the Premier League title in 2015/16, but he failed to recapture his scintillating form from that campaign last season (16/17).

Mahrez felt the time was right to move on during the close season and handed in a transfer request in an attempt to secure a move, with Roma strongly linked with him.

But it never materialised, with Mahrez adamant that Leicester did not tell him the whole story with regards to trying to sell him, convinced the club was "blocking" potential transfers.

Read: Vardy, Mahrez combine to sink Spurs

"I wanted to be transparent, not play people around, be honest about it," he told the Daily Mail.

"N'Golo [Kante] had a [release] clause and when he left they stopped those clauses. They said they would never give one to anyone after that.

"They didn't want to sell me. They said, 'yes, [there will be] no problem if something comes up.' But behind the scenes they were blocking stuff — talking to clubs but just not wanting to sell me.

"But I'm confident. Contract or no contract, I believe I will get to the top. When you have quality, and show it, there's no problem."