Do Leicester City have the wide options to cope without Riyad Mahrez?
With silly season slowly but surely creaking into life, Riyad Mahrez is likely to generate more column inches than any other Leicester City player.
One of the stars of Leicester’s historic 2015-16 Premier League title triumph, the 26-year-old took it upon himself to release a statement at the end of May confirming a desire to finally cash in on his newfound stardom and depart for pastures new.
Whether the skilful Algerian does indeed secure a move to one of the giants of the game – Barcelona have repeatedly been mentioned as a possible destination – remains to be seen but should Mahrez move on, do the Foxes have the wide options to cope with his loss?
Demarai Gray
Perhaps the most natural successor to Mahrez currently residing among the ranks at the King Power Stadium, the 20-year-old will be a key member of the England U21 side at this month’s European Championships in Poland.
(Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
A smart buy from Birmingham City for £3.7 million in January 2016, Gray has become more accustomed to coming off the bench over the last year-and-a-half but has shown more than enough to suggest that he could develop into a major force for the Foxes.
For evidence of that, just remind yourself of the speedster’s goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford in September.
Marc Albrighton
It’s hard to find a player that better embodied an unheralded Leicester side’s rise to become shock champions than Marc Albrighton, a man loaned out to the Championship Wigan Athletic by Aston Villa in the 2013 before being released at the end of last season.
Albrighton has become a consistent performer for the Foxes and while his contributions may not have immediately appeared as prominent as during his team’s title triumph, he actually racked up more goals (four) and assists (six) last season.
Expect Leicester to rely on the 27-year-old more often than not next term.
Ahmed Musa
Ahmed Musa was a major signing for Leicester at the start of last season, the Nigerian making the move to the King Power for a then club-record £16.6 million, a fee later gazumped by the purchase of Islam Slimani.
The 24-year-old openly preferred to operate in wide positions but his first campaign with the Foxes was a stuttering one, Musa only managing seven Premier League starts.
However, the former CSKA Moscow man has plenty of Champions League experience and when he joined Leicester, he was one of only seven players – a list including the likes of Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku and Paulo Dybala – aged 23 or younger to have reached double figures for goals in each of the past two seasons in Europe’s top seven leagues.
Tom Lawrence
Since arriving from Manchester United in September 2014, young Wales international Tom Lawrence hasn’t had much of a look-in at Leicester City – could that be about to change?
(Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)
The 23-year-old was loaned out to Ipswich Town last term and shone by scoring a string of spectacular goals – 11 in total, over in 36 appearances – en route to being named the Tractor Boys players’ player of the year.
To date, he has managed just three Premier League appearances but after his impressive spell at Portman Road, surely Craig Shakespeare could do worse than give Lawrence a fair crack at filling Mahrez’s boots?
