Mahrez case shows how managers will have to simultaneously plan for star players staying and leaving, maximising performance to prepare for the best transfer deal
They say the modern manager has to be all things to all people. He has to have a vision but be pragmatic, be a tactician but also a motivator. He must have authority but remain approachable, accommodating to fragile egos but also an unflinching disciple of discipline. And if you think that sounds a tricky balance to strike, the January transfer window just made things a lot more complicated.
Consider Claude Puel. The Leicester City manager is now fully responsible for the consequences of Manchester City’s unsuccessful attempt to pluck Riyad Mahrez from the King Power Stadium. The player wanted the move and did everything he could to make it happen. His club would only consider a transfer at £95m and City failed to reach that valuation. A “friend” of the Algerian was reported by Sky Sports as saying the player is “depressed” and has been told the only way to leave the club is to “go to war”. How precisely does Puel handle that?
Related: Leicester left to pick up pieces from Riyad Mahrez transfer fallout
Continue reading...