Riyad Mahrez set to miss Manchester City game as transfer dispute continues - reports

Algerian winger has effectively gone on strike after Leicester City blocked a possible move to the Premier League leaders in January.

Riyad Mahrez has submitted two transfer requests in the past seven months but remains at Leicester City. Matthew Childs / Reuters

Riyad Mahrez looks likely to miss this weekend's match against Manchester City, with the Leicester forward reportedly absent from training since he failed to force through a move to the Premier League leaders.

It would be the third consecutive league gameMahrez has missed since Pep Guardiola's City failed to get their man on January 31.

Despite a second transfer request from the player in eight months, Leicester reportedly held out for a deal worth £80 million (Dh409m), with City unwilling to go beyond £60m.

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The Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that Leicester were considering asking the Professional Footballers' Association to mediate in their dispute with the 26-year-old forward if no agreement could be reached.

It said Mahrez, who has missed Leicester's past two matches against Everton and Swansea City, was absent for a fourth successive training session on Tuesday. It is understood that even if Mahrez reports back for duty, it is unlikely he will feature against Guardiola's team on Saturday.

Mahrez is unhappy that Leicester were determined to secure such a huge profit on a player they bought for a reported £350,000 from French second-division side Le Havre in 2014 and who played a pivotal role in the club's rise from the Championship to Premier League champions.

He was crowned players' player of the year during Leicester's remarkable title-winning campaign in 2015-16, scoring 17 Premier League goals, and then signed a four-year deal to help lead their Champions League charge.

Adding to Mahrez's anger is that other key players from Leicester's title-winning triumph - N'Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater - have been allowed to leave the club and join Chelsea with far less resistance.