Leicester City manager Claude Puel says Riyad Mahrez can’t leave the club this month, but reports in France suggest he has an agreement with the owners saying he can.

Puel responded to questions about Mahrez’s future by saying: “It’s not a question in our mind. All the noise is just speculation.

“Of course we are in the transfer window and it’s normal for all the best players [to be linked with transfers]. But I’m not afraid about this because there’s a fantastic spirit and good attitude in this squad.

“The good ambition for him is to continue this hard work, to show his consistency game after game, until the end of the season.”

Later on Monday, France Football journalist Nabil Djellit seemed to refute this statement. He said that Mahrez still wants to leave this window. He also claimed the Algerian has an agreement with Leicester’s owners allowing him to do so.

Perhaps what Puel meant was that they’re more than willing to keep Mahrez if they don’t receive a substantial offer. So far, there haven’t been any rumours of bids from the big clubs, and that might be why the Foxes boss is so confident he’ll stay.

It’s quite surprising none of the big-six are interested in the forward, considering his recent performances. The 26-year-old has eight goals and eight assists in 25 matches for Leicester this season.

Plus, Arsenal are still set to lose Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Özil and Jack Wilshere at the end of the season, unless they can agree contract extensions in the coming months.

You’d think the Gunners want to work on replacements sooner rather than later, but we’ll have to wait and see if they test Puel’s resolve this month.