Two more Premier League stars to Saudi
According to Sky Sports, Al Ahli reached an agreement to recruit Mahrez for $ 40 million. The Algerian striker did not travel with Man City to Japan - Korea, but stayed in Manchester to complete the procedure. He will undergo a medical this week before signing a three-year contract with a weekly salary of more than $1.1 million. According to French newspaper Foot Mercato, Man City is contacting Barca's Raphinha to replace Mahrez.
After shining in the Leicester shirt and winning the Premier League in the 2015-2016 season, Mahrez was recruited by Man City for a club record of $ 80 million in the summer of 2018. In the past five seasons, the Algerian winger has scored 78 goals. through 236, won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups, three League Cups, an English Super Cup and a Champions League.
Mahrez will be the third first-team star to leave the Etihad Stadium this summer, following out-of-contract duo Ilkay Gundogan and Benjamin Mendy. In the opposite direction, Man City recruited midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea for $ 31 million and reached an agreement to buy midfielder Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig for $ 112 million - a world record fee for a defender.
Earlier, Al Ettifaq also reached an agreement to recruit Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson for a fee of 15 million USD. The Saudi Arabian club has submitted an offer with a weekly salary of $ 900,000, which is four times the current income of Henderson at Anfield. He will reunite with his former teammate Steven Gerrard - who has just been appointed coach of Al Ettifaq.
The English midfielder was removed from Liverpool's squad in a friendly against Karlsruhe 4-2 at BBBank Wildpark, Germany on July 19. Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo shared a goal and Diogo Jota scored twice.
Last week, a group of British LGBT+ advocates criticized Henderson over rumors that the 33-year-old midfielder was considering a move to Saudi Arabia. Henderson was once the voice of this community in football, wearing shoes with rainbow laces during his journey to the Euro 2021 final. Homosexuality is still illegal and executed in the Gulf country.
Liverpool have major reshuffle in midfield this season, having parted ways with James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho are also receiving offers from Saudi Arabia. The Anfield owner has recruited Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig for $76 million, Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton for $46 million, and is targeting Romeo Lavia - a 19-year-old Belgian midfielder valued at $57 million by Southampton.
Joining from Sunderland in 2011, Henderson has been named Liverpool captain since 2015, scoring 33 goals in 492 games over the past 10 years, winning one Champions League, one Premier League, two League Cups, one English Super Cup, a European Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup.
Mahrez and Henderson are the next two big names to Saudi Pro League, after Ruben Neves, Moussa Marega, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Al Hilal), Cristiano Ronaldo, Anderson Talisca, David Ospina, Marcelo Brozovic (Al Nassr) , Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante, Romarinho, Jota (Al Ittihad) or Edouard Mendy, Roberto Firmino (Al Ahli).
