Riyad Mahrez granted leave from Algeria, set to join one of Barcelona, Chelsea, Spurs

After winning the Premier League two seasons ago, Leicester City managed to hang on to every key player except N’Golo Kanté. As it turns out, Kanté was the most key of all the key players, so now, twelve months, the rest are possibly following him out through the exit door as well.

Danny Drinkwater has been strongly linked with Chelsea while Jamie Vardy has a few potential suitors, too. And then there is Riyad Mahrez, who won the Premier League’s Player of the Season award when Leicester won the title, but just like the team, followed it up with a mostly disappointing season. But no matter, his stock remains high, especially in this market, with moves of £40-50m mooted for the 26-year-old.

The latest and strongest of those has been potential interest from none other than Barcelona, which was quickly followed by the news that Mahrez has been granted permission to leave the Algeria national team training camp, to “formalize this transfer to his new club”.

So that bit is pretty clear. The destination isn’t, at least not yet. L’Equipe surmise Barcelona, Chelsea, and Spurs are all possibilities.

Hmm...

Can he play wing-back?