Riyad never wanted to join LCFC

[Claridge]

14 minutes ago, An Sionnach said:

Kante is a great player who reads the game superbly well but Wilf is getting very close to him now and is much better in the air so all in all we did OK out of that. They are both intelligent nice guys which helps. Mahrez is a big kid and shows no sign of growing up.

Wilf is nowhere near Kantes level at the moment and probably never will be, control and distribution is awful,

. Great at winning it back though

[Stadt]

The wasted two years at Leicester remark was worse. Would be nice if he showed a bit more appreciation for us though, if we hadn’t have signed him he’d most likely have a middling Ligue 1 career. A Coupe De France runners up medal would be his zenith rather than everything he’s won now 

[Mark_w]

35 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

well we'll never know cos he fu cked off for a team who finished 9 places below us, weren't in europe, at the first possible opportunity, just to get more money. the absolute hero. 

He did win the league the next season, so I think he could make a fairly good case that he made the right decision from a footballing perspective.

[ScouseFox]

15 minutes ago, Mark_w said:

He did win the league the next season, so I think he could make a fairly good case that he made the right decision from a footballing perspective.

so did mahrez. 

[shailen]

18 minutes ago, Mark_w said:

He did win the league the next season, so I think he could make a fairly good case that he made the right decision from a footballing perspective.

So did Mahrez!! 

[Mark_w]

13 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

so did mahrez. 

 

11 minutes ago, shailen said:

So did Mahrez!! 

I know. I'm not saying Mahrez was wrong to go either (I just think he handled it before and after in a much more s***ty way).

The point I was making was the 'he left to a crap Chelsea side so it wasn't a footballing decision' argument doesn't really hold up when they then won the league.

Edited 13 May 2020 by Mark_w

[shailen]

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

Kante release clause was met. Was offered ridiculous money at Chelsea. 

 

Kante still cares about the club. He still comes to games when Chelsea aren't playing. He was even at a pre season game at Burton Albion. 

If Kante really wanted to stay here, he would have rejected the offer regardless of whether his release clause was met. He is no different to Mahrez in that respects. 

 

Neither Kante nor Mahrez owe us anything. They both used us to get a move to a so called bigger club and we used them to get to make Leicester a club that can genuinely challenge for European football for a few years. Neither party would not have gained without the other, albeit both players gave us the greatest season we'll probably ever have. 

[Spudulike]

41 minutes ago, Claridge said:

Wilf is nowhere near Kantes level at the moment and probably never will be, control and distribution is awful,

. Great at winning it back though

I would dispute this. His control and distribution has improved incredibily this season under Rodgers. Not quite NG yet but not far off and was vital for us until his injury. 

[Stadt]

Mahrez was buzzing for a move to Roma as well when they were only coughing up about £28m or something. They’ve been pretty wank for a while now too, so he could have wasted some years there or at Arsenal too.

 

It’s been a great move for him, he’s won what, like 5 trophies? Earned loads more money but he plays about half the time, which is a waste of his talent. I don’t begrudge him his move but wish he didn’t treat his time here like it was some sort of community service; rather than we made him a millionaire, won the top two league titles and got him a move to Man City.

[ScouseFox]

5 minutes ago, Mark_w said:

 

I know. I'm not saying Mahrez was wrong to go either (I just think he handled it before and after in a much more s***ty way.

The point I was making was the 'he left to a crap Chelsea side so it wasn't a footballing decision' argument doesn't really hold up when they then won the league.

mahrez and drinkwater can both have much, much stronger claims to have left for "footballing" reasons over kante, yet only one gets spoken about positively. 

 

he left for more money. mahrez left because he was simply way too good to carry on playing for us in the position we were in. 

 

not really sure what's too hard to see, people simply still hate mahrez because he knew he was better than our club. so fu cking precious, get over it. 

[shailen]

3 minutes ago, Mark_w said:

 

I know. I'm not saying Mahrez was wrong to go either (I just think he handled it before and after in a much more s***ty way.

The point I was making was the 'he left to a crap Chelsea side so it wasn't a footballing decision' argument doesn't really hold up when they then won the league.

Fair enough. I do actually have a little sympathy for Mahrez as it was clear he was desparate to leave long before he actually did, so I think something definitely did happen behind the scenes to break his trust. Having said that he was still our player and the club had every right, but on the pitch I saw nothing to suggest he wasn't playing for the shirt. 

[Mark_w]

3 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

It does hold up - you go back to Summer 2016 and ask who has been the better football team since Kante had been in England out of Leicester and Chelsea. Leicester by a country mile. So why leave? 
 

It’s not like Kante knew that by going to Chelsea he would win the league. He didn’t shine his bald head like a crystal ball and see into the future ffs. It was pure luck that coincided with a financial decision. 

Chelsea had a very good squad, a talented new manager & had picked up towards the end of the season. On top of that they had massive resources way ahead of our own, to buy and retain players. There's a reason that there's such a strong correlation between club's wage bills and their league positions. We still had a lot of uncertainty about whether Mahrez and Vardy were going to be at the club at the start of the next season. I don't think you can say there was no justification for the decision in terms of which club was better placed to be a success on the pitch.

[bmt]

3 hours ago, FIF said:

 

You must be a Mahrez homer or Algerian (remember those sad days)

 

He had a few good games but he isn't and has never been even one of Manc's top 5 players. Even when he played against us it was De Bruyne who was by far the better player and the reason Mahrez had no-one marking him - it was a choice De Bruyne or Mahrez.

 

Take those Mahrez glasses off, he's a bench warmer for Pep and will be crying again there, as he was before injuries allowed him to get some game time.

Everything you've said there is hugely biased against him. I'm not Algerian, I'm from Leicester and don't especially like mahrez but he was a top player at times this season, certainly in city's top five when he hit form. 

 

I'd be surprised if he isn't Pep's first choice when football is back, Sterling on the left and mahrez right.

 

 

[Mark_w]

Just now, pmcla26 said:

Okay so if Mo Salah left Liverpool for Arsenal in the summer would that be a good move for him in your eyes? 
 

They’ve got a new talented manager who they’ve picked up a little under, and have big resources. Makes perfect sense don’t it mate... 

 

That’s the position Kante was in. 

Except Liverpool have a much better squad than we did, have much more money than we did and aren't in any real danger of losing any player they desperately want to keep. We got to a stage where Vardy could have chosen to go to Arsenal if he wanted - that's not going to happen with Liverpool's most important players - and even if it did they'd find it much easier to find top quality replacements than we would. Liverpool are one of the most famous clubs in the world, we were a great story but our position was infinitely more fragile than Liverpool's is. It's really not the same.

[bmt]

2 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

De Bruyne 

B Silva 

D Silva 

Sterling 

Sane 

Aguero 

Ederson 

Fernandinho 

Laporte 

 

Nearly named a whole team of players there that Man City fans would most likely consider more important or better than Mahrez. 

Sane?

 

In that list, and as I've said since he's been in good form this season I'd say kdb, aguero and sterling are fair enough but you could argue against the rest based on what I said about periods this season.

[st albans fox]

2 hours ago, J.Lisemore said:

To add to this, obviously Kante would have had the final say on a transfer but I can imagine his agent had a big influence on whether he was staying or going. I doubt he would have thrown his toys out of the pram if he had to stay put it that way. 

 

1 hour ago, shailen said:

If Kante really wanted to stay here, he would have rejected the offer regardless of whether his release clause was met. He is no different to Mahrez in that respects. 

 

Neither Kante nor Mahrez owe us anything. They both used us to get a move to a so called bigger club and we used them to get to make Leicester a club that can genuinely challenge for European football for a few years. Neither party would not have gained without the other, albeit both players gave us the greatest season we'll probably ever have. 

We know that Kante has some particular unpleasant hangers on in his entourage ....... the money Chelsea offered was too much for him to stay with us and yet it still took conte’s personal intervention to clinch convince him to move 

[Corky]

He wanted to go to Arsenal a few years ago, he said we denied him that move.

 

Maybe he'll go there soon.

[bmt]

5 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

yes, as in Leroy Sané? 

 

The three on the list you could argue against are Ederson, as he’s a keeper so hard to compare, and D Silva and Fernandinho due to their age. But no competition with the rest. 
 

 

I know who he is, he hardly plays anymore. Laporte was out most of the season, and as I've said over and over I'm on about when mahrez got into form this season.

[wokinghamfox]

I do wonder where would we be this season if we had him at the club with this squad.!?

 

 

[Soar Fox]

1 hour ago, pmcla26 said:

It does hold up - you go back to Summer 2016 and ask who has been the better football team since Kante had been in England out of Leicester and Chelsea. Leicester by a country mile. So why leave? 
 

It’s not like Kante knew that by going to Chelsea he would win the league. He didn’t shine his bald head like a crystal ball and see into the future ffs. It was pure luck that coincided with a financial decision. 

Since Kante joined Chelsea he’s won another Premier League, Fa Cup, Europa league, World Cup and been runners up in another 2 domestic cup finals. We’ve won fvck all since he’s left. 

 

The lowest he’s finished with Chelsea is 5th the highest we’ve finished since is 9th. His decision in leaving us and joining Chelsea has been totally justified. 

[shailen]

1 hour ago, st albans fox said:

 

We know that Kante has some particular unpleasant hangers on in his entourage ....... the money Chelsea offered was too much for him to stay with us and yet it still took conte’s personal intervention to clinch convince him to move 

Hang on, didn't it take a lot of convincing for Kante to come here in the first place, so whether it was his agent or not, it's the same thing in my eyes. The idea that the player was forced or encouraged is nonsense in my eyes. You can't deflect the blame onto Kante's people for his exit. There is never any smoke without fire. 

 

Tabloids did come out later, similar to this thread saying Kante didn't want to even sign for us. 

 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3014407/ngolo-kante-leicester-marseille-chelsea/

[ScouseFox]

1 hour ago, Steve_Walsh5 said:

Since Kante joined Chelsea he’s won another Premier League, Fa Cup, Europa league, World Cup and been runners up in another 2 domestic cup finals. We’ve won fvck all since he’s left. 

 

The lowest he’s finished with Chelsea is 5th the highest we’ve finished since is 9th. His decision in leaving us and joining Chelsea has been totally justified. 

yeah there's no arguing with what has gone on since. but in one season mahrez won the league, the carling cup and the FA cup, and the african cup of nations. why was he not allowed to be waved off into the sunset with a kiss and not a dry eye in the house? because he stayed long enough for him to have to force a move for the good of his career? 

 

it's a never ending argument, but mahrez gets a much worse treatment from our fans out of all our good players who've left for pretty similar reasons, despite doing the most for the club by a distance. 

[Izzy]

I really don't care anymore.

 

He was a joy to watch when he was here and played a huge part in us winning the league.

 

The end.

[Corky]

51 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

yeah there's no arguing with what has gone on since. but in one season mahrez won the league, the carling cup and the FA cup, and the african cup of nations. why was he not allowed to be waved off into the sunset with a kiss and not a dry eye in the house? because he stayed long enough for him to have to force a move for the good of his career? 

 

it's a never ending argument, but mahrez gets a much worse treatment from our fans out of all our good players who've left for pretty similar reasons, despite doing the most for the club by a distance. 

Mahrez making himself unavailable for two matches a couple of years ago when we were 7th, starting to play well (he was in great form at the time) affected us that season. That didn't go down well, understandably. That annoyed me more than any comments he's made.

 

They've all gone on to have good careers elsewhere, we're doing very well ourselves, it's taken a while but we're coping without both Mahrez and Kante. Fans will always turn on a player that leaves- Vardy would've had it if he'd gone to Arsenal- personally I think we're doing well enough not to have bitterness now (apart from towards Peter Taylor who is always fair game).

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, shailen said:

Hang on, didn't it take a lot of convincing for Kante to come here in the first place, so whether it was his agent or not, it's the same thing in my eyes. The idea that the player was forced or encouraged is nonsense in my eyes. You can't deflect the blame onto Kante's people for his exit. There is never any smoke without fire. 

 

Tabloids did come out later, similar to this thread saying Kante didn't want to even sign for us. 

 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3014407/ngolo-kante-leicester-marseille-chelsea/

He wanted to go to Marseille I think ...... would you blame him?  Sign for a team that almost got relegated in a different country or for Marseille ?   so why did he come here ???  MONEY !