'I hope Ranieri is right' – Albrighton unsure of Mahrez stay

The Algeria international and Premier League winner has been heavily linked with a mega-money move to Arsenal in recent days but his team-mate hopes that such talk is false

Leicester City's Marc Albrighton is hopeful Riyad Mahrez will stay at the club amid a storm of speculation around the Algerian attacker's future. 

Mahrez has been heavily linked with a €50 million move to Arsenal, a rumour that both the player's agent and manager have since denied.

Regardless, the Algerian is hot property after his exploits with the Premier League champions last season and Albrighton is hopeful that talk of a summer move is false.

“Hopefully what the manager says is right,” the Foxes' number 11 said after their International Champions Cup win over Celtic. “You like to hear the likes of Riyad and Vards [Jamie Vardy] are staying and want to continue what we keep achieving. 

“A player of his quality is always going to attract attention from other clubs and the media are only going to keep that up, which you can understand, but as far as Riyad's concerned he's a level headed guy and he does his talking on the pitch – he proved that today.

“You want to keep all your best players. Obviously N'Golo [Kante] we can only thank for being there last season and helping us to what we achieved. He was outstanding on and off the field, a great guy and as players we wish him all the best for the future.”

Leicester have signed a number of reinforcements since Kante's exit to Chelsea, most notably midfielder Nampalys Mendy and striker Ahmed Musa, and Albrighton has lavished praise on the new faces.

“Musa looks sharp, quick - he likes to stretch defences. I don't think he had too many chances to do that today but I think with the games that are coming this pre-season he'll have plenty of opportunities. 

“He's a player that'll excite the fans from what we've seen already – he's one to look forward to.

“Mendy's the same in the middle. He dominated the first half, got himself on the ball, didn't look out of place, didn't shy away from the ball – he wanted it. He made some good passes at times which we need with N'Golo gone. I thought he was brilliant.”