Reports emerged this week suggesting the Algerian
international has agreed a deal to move to Arsenal for a fee of close
to £41million.
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri says he is still
"confident" Riyad Mahrez will not leave to join Arsenal.
Mahrez was in fine form in Leicester's 1-1 International
Champions Cup clash with Celtic on Saturday, opening the scoring with a sublime
solo goal before being applauded from the pitch by both sets of fans in Glasgow
for his superb display.
But Ranieri, who said earlier this week that he was
optimistic Mahrez will stay put at Leicester, insists his opinion hasn't
changed ahead of the start of their Premier League title defence against Hull
City on 13 August.
"I'm confident, of course," he said after the Celtic
match, when asked if he believed Mahrez would stay.
"We know very well there are other teams who must win
the Premier League. We just have to defend it.
"I changed him at last because I said 'okay, his job is
done, it's better to avoid injury'.
"I'm very happy, we have a very good dressing room. The
players who came in are very good."
Leicester captain Wes Morgan was impressed by Mahrez's
performance, capped by a dancing run and terrific curling shot that put his
side ahead just after half-time.
"That's what he's all about, he can score something out
of nothing,"
"He did that today, it was a great goal and
his performance was good today." said Morgan
Ranieri, whose side triumphed at Celtic Park 6-5 on penalties, was delighted with the application of his players and is relishing
further tests in the glamour pre-season tournament against Barcelona and PSG.
"I'm super happy, we played against a team ahead of us
[in preparation] and I didn't see a difference," he said.
"We're on
the right way for our fitness, our preparation.
"We were so concentrated, had good shape, I'm very
happy. Now we have to think about international matches - Barcelona and Paris
Saint-Germain play in different styles".
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