L’Equipe are reporting that Riyad Mahrez will not sign a new deal with Leicester as the player wants a ‘new challenge’.

With information they claim to have received, Mahrez apparently wants to join a ‘big European engine’ and even though he is already contracted until 2019, he has no intention of renewing.

This, if true, will come as a blow to Claudio Ranieri who had told the Leicester Mercury recently, “I am very confident with [Mahrez]. He stays. He wants to stay here with us. He enjoys it, he is laughing. He is not a man who says ‘oh coach, I want to go.’ No, he is happy.”

It is hard to know who to believe.

On the one hand, L’Equipe tend to be quite reliable. On the other, it’s hard to ignore, especially from an Arsenal perspective, how on-the-money Ranieiri was in relation to the Jamie Vardy transfer.

If I had to guess one way or the other, I would lean towards trusting the Leicester manager, however who knows if N’Golo Kante’s transfer to Chelsea has just wobbled their whole house of cards.

I wonder what Jamie is thinking now.