Mahrez £30m for 16 games!

Back in August we played Leicester City in a game where Dele Alli scored a late goal and we couldn't hold on for the win, conceding a late goal ourselves. I wrote ho one player taunted us and was exactly the type of wide man we needed, one who carried a goal threat.

The Key lesson from the Leicester game

Riyad Mahrez has now scored 13 goals in 16 Premier League games and 14 goals in 18 games in all competitions. Last season he scored 4 goals in 32 games and Jamie Vardy scored 5 in 36 games. The difference is the system, a system that brings out them as players.

Tottenham has been linked with both players for silly money, that latest I see if that French TV programme Telefoot, where Le 10 Sport have got their story from, are suggesting Manchester United are going to offer £29.87-million (€41m) for Mahrez and we will match it. All rubbish of course, the French outlet will have no idea what Manchester United are planning and we certainly won't be offering £29.87-million for a player in a purple patch. Some outlets are interpreting this as we have already made the offer.

What he is achieving at Leicester City is almost immaterial. Fans assume that because that is what he is producing there that it will be replicated elsewhere, but he'll only replicate what he is doing there in the same system. If a club is playing a different system then he has to play a different game and that may mean less attacking and less of a goal threat.

When assessing him or any other player you have to look at his skill and ask can it be transferred into our system, both attacking and defensively. You have to work out if you feel he can adapt and if he can what his output would be. That is the skill, not simply being blinded by a few goals. 

You then value him on that, on what he can produce for you bearing in mind that you need him to increase is value while he is with you, standard practice for all clubs. Is he going to increase in value beyond £29.87-million? Probably not which means we wouldn't offer it. It is rare, very rare, that a player is bought without that consideration being taken into account by any club, not just Spurs. 

It is a fantasy, although idealistic is perhaps a better word, to believe players should be paid for solely for what they can produce on a football field. In reality, financial profit has its say to ensure a viable business. Mahrez isn't worth £29.87-million simply because he has produced a standard of output for just 16 games. That is, in effect, all he has done, same as Vardy. What they produce next season will determine their true value.

I wrote immediately after the Leicester game that he was the type of wide man we needed. Erik Lamela to be fair to him has changed his game, he is now mentally with us at last and is making runs into the area into scoring positions. Riyad Mahrez is doing it better.

Would he be a good edition, possibly yes, will he be joining us in January, no and at £29.87-million he won't be joining us in the summer either. 


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