Leicester City have allegedly made a £6.25m bid for Polish midfielder, Bartosz Kapustka, a player some think the club could have identified as a replacement for Riyad Mahrez.

On Saturday the internet went crazy with reports that Mahrez wanted to leave Leicester and join Arsenal, but while the thousands of reports all stemmed from a single source, the lack of denial coming from Mahrez’s camp, given the strength of the rumour, is quite curious.

His agent, Kamel Bengougam, who was at the Arsenal game on Friday against Lens did say that he wasn’t there for anything transfer-related and apparently also denied that Arsenal had made a bid for his player, but direct quotes for this are hard to find.

Kapustka currently plays for Cracovia in his homeland and is comfortable on either wing or playing behind the striker.

The Belgian club, Standard Liege, have already had a second bid turned down for the player earlier this year and the list of clubs who are said to be interested in the 19-year-old is long – Everton, Southampton, Celtic, Cologne and Ajax have all been mentioned in relation to the player. The Belgians also offered €400k for him in March 2015.

Speaking about his player, Cracovia’s coach, Jacek Zielinksi, said, “Bartek has no nervous system; he doesn’t know what the word ‘stress’ means.

“He approaches every game in the same way, no matter if it’s against Legia Warsaw, a smaller Polish team or Northern Ireland at the Euros. He just goes out there, competes and leaves it all on the pitch.

“I met Kapustka after I started my job at Cracovia [in April 2015] and I immediately noticed that I had an exceptional talent to work with.

 “He stood out in training sessions. He had it all: technique, pace, stamina and a great tactical understanding of the game.

“We decided to bring him on slowly, so first he came off the bench in few games, but he soon earned his starting spot. [Poland manager] Adam Nawalka started monitoring his progress and I knew right away that he had a very serious interest in Bartek.” 

During the BBC’s Euro coverage this summer, Gary Lineker described Kapustka as ‘deliciously talented.’

Arsenal’s own Wojciech Szczesny even said of him, “It’s ridiculous, you shouldn’t be allowed to play at that level when you’re 19.

“I was 22 during my debut and lasted only 60 minutes on the pitch [after being sent off against Greece at Euro 2012].”

There is absolutely no concrete evidence to suggest that this would be as a direct replacement for Mahrez but it is a nice little narrative and was a chance to look at a talented youngster.

Maybe Arsenal should do the same?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEcQ3fmsfzw