{"id":96062,"date":"2023-11-14T12:25:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T12:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/?p=96062"},"modified":"2023-11-14T12:25:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T12:25:53","slug":"riyad-mahrez-reveals-why-he-left-man-city-to-join-al-ahli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/soccer\/riyad-mahrez-reveals-why-he-left-man-city-to-join-al-ahli\/","title":{"rendered":"Riyad Mahrez reveals why he left Man City to join Al-Ahli"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Riyad Mahrez reveals why he left Man City to join Saudi Arabia giants Al-Ahli &#8211; but insists he has &#8216;unfinished business&#8217; in the Champions League after sitting on Pep Guardiola&#8217;s bench in the final<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Riyad Mahrez left Manchester City for Saudi Arabia side Al-Ahli\u00a0in the summer<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>He bowed out at the Etihad after winning the Treble with Pep Guardiola&#8217;s side<\/b><\/li>\n<li><strong>City had their pants pulled down by a development team &#8211; It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Riyad Mahrez has lifted the lid on his \u00a330million move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli, revealing it was his decision to leave Manchester City after winning the Treble.<\/p>\n<p>The Algerian winger, who racked up a rich portfolio of trophies at the Etihad, bowed out in style by winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League last season before agreeing to join the Saudi giants in the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite adding a first Champions League medal to the collection last campaign, Mahrez was not picked by Pep Guardiola to start against Real Madrid in the last four or Inter Milan in the final.<\/p>\n<p>The former Leicester City\u00a0title winner was not even selected off the bench during June&#8217;s showpiece final in Istanbul.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While opening up on his City exit, Mahrez admitted he was deeply disappointed to miss out on the crucial matches but urged it was not the reason why he left the Etihad in July.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/14\/12\/77780229-12747255-image-a-33_1699963480967.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Former Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez has opened up on his Etihad exit last summer<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/14\/11\/77779813-12747255-image-a-1_1699962532258.jpg\" height=\"442\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Pep Guardiola and Mahrez have an animated conversation as the Algerian prepares to sit on the bench during Manchester City&#8217;s Champions League final against Inter Milan in June<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/14\/12\/77780159-12747255-image-a-30_1699963408243.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>After missing out in the Champions League final, Mahrez urged he has &#8216;unfinished business&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I had two years left on my contract with Manchester City, I could have stayed,&#8217; Mahrez told French newspaper\u00a0L&#8217;Equipe this week.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It was really me who decided to leave. I felt that this opportunity (to join Al-Ahli) would not come again. Maybe it was time to leave because I had spent five years at City and won everything.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Now the main man for Al-Ahli, alongside fellow Premier League stars Roberto Firmino, Edouard Mendy and Allan Saint-Maximin, the 32-year-old star chose to begin a new chapter away from the spotlight of European football.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, Mahrez penned his \u00a343m-a-year deal knowing that he would no longer be able to star in the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;To be honest, I still have a taste of unfinished business,&#8217; Mahrez admitted. &#8216;In the Champions League, I did not play the semi-final or the final. In previous seasons, I always started in the Champions League while always being impactful for my team.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;This last year, I couldn&#8217;t say it went badly, but I have a bit of this feeling of unfinished business. I was offered four years in Saudi Arabia, in a Muslim country where I can definitely protect (and provide for) my family. There was also a new challenge, and a new project. So, I decided to leave, it wasn&#8217;t a big deal.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/14\/10\/77778471-12747255-image-a-36_1699959380308.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The 32-year-old winger (left) signed for Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ahli as part of a \u00a330m move<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/14\/10\/77778367-0-image-a-33_1699959135705.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Although a starting spot wasn&#8217;t always guaranteed, the Algerian was a key part of City&#8217;s attack<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/14\/10\/77778321-0-image-a-32_1699959048013.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mahrez, pictured with Aymeric Laporte (left) who also moved to Saudi Arabia to join Al-Nassr this summer, won a hatful of trophies at the Etihad and bowed out after winning the Treble<\/p>\n<p>According to Mahrez, Manchester City&#8217;s chiefs tried to tempt to stay another year, with experienced players Aymeric Laporte, Ilkay Gundogan and Joao Cancelo heading for the exit door.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Txiki Begiristain (technical director) really wanted me to stay, and even Pep Guardiola. They made it clear to me. I weighed the pros and cons. And finally, I decided to leave. I don&#8217;t regret it, I&#8217;m happy to be here.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The level of the Saudi league is not bad. It&#8217;s going to get better and better. It\u2019s a championship that I\u2019m learning.\u00a0Here, they have put the resources into recruiting the best players. There&#8217;s definitely quality, I think it&#8217;s just the beginning.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Can we compare it to Europe? I don&#8217;t think so yet. But at this rate, in the near future, they can be among the five, six or seven best Championships in the world.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/14\/12\/77780161-12747255-image-a-36_1699963514530.jpg\" height=\"472\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mahrez appears to argue with the Spanish boss during City&#8217;s clash with RB Leipzig in 2021<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/14\/10\/73401363-12747255-Mahrez_will_join_Roberto_Firmino_at_the_club-a-37_1699959539104.jpg\" height=\"458\" width=\"306\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/14\/10\/73401365-12747255-Edouard_Mendy_has_also_joined-a-38_1699959539105.jpg\" height=\"458\" width=\"306\"><\/p>\n<p>He joined both Roberto Firmino (left) and Edouard Mendy (right) at the ambitious Saudi outfit<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/14\/11\/77778745-12747255-image-a-40_1699960096967.jpg\" height=\"426\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mahrez (left) won the Premier League with Leicester before joining Manchester City in 2018<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12747255\/Riyad-Mahrez-reveals-left-Man-City-join-Saudi-Arabia-giants-Al-Ahli-insists-unfinished-business-Champions-League-sitting-Pep-Guardiolas-bench-final.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Riyad Mahrez reveals why he left Man City to join Saudi Arabia giants Al-Ahli &#8211; but insists he has &#8216;unfinished<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Riyad Mahrez reveals why he left Man City to join Al-Ahli - stopsmokingway<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/soccer\/riyad-mahrez-reveals-why-he-left-man-city-to-join-al-ahli\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Riyad Mahrez reveals why he left Man City to join Al-Ahli - stopsmokingway\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Riyad Mahrez reveals why he left Man City to join Saudi Arabia giants Al-Ahli &#8211; 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