Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare has revealed that Riyad Mahrez wants to play for a Premier League club in the top-six.

Mahrez’s efforts to leave Leicester this summer haven’t got him very far. He handed in a transfer request not long after the season ended and practically asked any club, preferably one playing in the Champions League next season, to sign him.

There are now four weeks remaining in the transfer window and Mahrez is still a Leicester player. Only Roma have made a bid, while Arsenal and Tottenham have been constantly linked without following up on their interest.

For Leicester manager Craig Shakespeare, the situation is clear. “He wants to play for a top six club,” he said, reports Football365. “If we don’t get an offer from a top six club, he stays. If that offer comes in and it’s not enough, he stays.

“It is quite clear for me at the moment, he has made that statement but he is our player. I picked him for 60 minutes, he performed. Is it doing my head in? It’s part and parcel of the transfer window.

“If you let it, it can affect you. But my job is to make sure the players are focused on every training session and every game.”

Mahrez reported back to Leicester training and featured in their pre-season friendlies leading up to the first game of the season against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. He could well end up playing against Arsenal in the middle of a transfer saga.

Arsenal’s interest in Mahrez has been apparent all summer long, but it’s clear that he’s not one of their first choice targets this summer. That could change should Arsenal not be able to secure their top target Thomas Lemar.

For now, though, it seems Mahrez will be staying a Leicester player.