RIYAD MAHREZ has entered week two of his dispute with Leicester City after missing training again today.
The Foxes squad returned from a 48 hour break following Saturday’s draw with Swansea to resume training at their Belvoir Road base today.
However there were no signs of 26-year-old Mahrez, who started the second week of his self-imposed exile the same way as he started the first – by staying away from training.
Leicester have not confirmed whether Mahrez was given permission to miss yesterday’s session and the club are taking a softly, softly approach as they look to successfully reintegrate their rebel winger back into their squad.
Mahrez handed in a transfer request last Tuesday and missed training on the eve of Leicester’s trip to Everton, which they lost 2-1.
The unsettled Algerian failed to show for that midweek defeat and was missing again on Saturday as his team-mates drew 1-1 with Swansea.
Yesterday’s no-show means Mahrez has now been absent from four training sessions and two matches.
Sources close to the player suggest he is “in a fragile state of mind,” and “very depressed,” by Leicester’s refusal to accept an offer from Manchester City of £50million plus winger Patrick Roberts, currently on loan at Celtic.
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Although City rated Roberts at £15million, Leicester believe their valuation is grossly inflated.
The 21-year-old has only played four minutes of Premier League football for City and is now in his third season on loan in Scotland.
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This season Roberts has only scored once in 12 appearances for Celtic and faces a battle to shift James Forrest to get back in Brendan Rodgers’ starting eleven.
Ironically, Leicester’s next match is against Manchester City at the Etihad on Saturday.
However it would be a major shock if the 2016 PFA Player of the Year was included in Claude Puel’s squad for that game due to the sensitivity of the situation and the media circus which would surround him.
On Saturday Puel confessed he was uncertain of what the future held for his controversial forward.
“I expect nothing,” he said after the Swansea game. “The important thing is not to think about one player but to think about my team and my squad.”
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