Matchplug

Riyad Mahrez have submitted a transfer request to Leicester City after Manchester City made a surprise £60 million bid for his signature.

The Algerian who won the PFA Player of the Year in 2016 has been linked with a move to a top European side since he helped Leicester City win the Premier League in the 2015/2016 season. He came close to leaving the King Power Stadium last season but no club could meet Leicester City’s demand.

He has been outstanding for them once again this season, proving to clubs that he is not a one-season wonder.

Pep Guardiola had not planned to sign a new attacker this month after losing out to Manchester United on the signing of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal, however, the injury to Leroy  Sane and Gabriel Jesus has forced him to return to the market.

Leicester do not have to sell and certainly don’t want to sell this late in the transfer window as it would be hard for them to replace the Algerian, but Mahrez wants to leave and he has handed in a transfer request.

The Algerian was missing in the Foxes training on Tuesday as he looks to force through the move, knowing he could potentially win another Premier League by the end of this season.

Newcastle United and West Ham are going head to head in their bid to sign Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala before the close of transfer window today.

The Premier League duo are looking to bolster their squad ahead of a potential relegation scrap.

Mangala has fallen further down the pecking order after the signing of Aymeric Laporte and knows his only chance of playing regularly this season is to go out on loan. He has been the fourth choice center-back before the arrival of Laporte, behind Vincent Kompany, John Stones, and Nicolas Otamendi.

Pep Guardiola would not stand in the way of Mangala and only had good things to say about the defender when asked why he signed Laporte with Mangala still on their books. Guardiola admitted that Mangala has been helpful to them this season especially in the absence of one of the first choice defenders.

Valencia, where Mangala spent last season on loan, are also interested in bringing him back as they chase a Champions League spot.

Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez is desperate to add Mangala to his team after finally getting permission from Mike Ashley to spend some money in the transfer market.

David Moyes has also been left without a choice but to make a new defensive signing following the injury to Winston Reid and James Collins.

Juventus are close to completing the free transfer of Emre Can from Liverpool on a free transfer and the Italians are optimistic that he would join them.

The Italian club’s president was asked about the situation of things with Can and he claimed that talks were well on their way with the German and they hope to wrap things up sooner rather than later.

Can has just under 6 months left on his Liverpool contract and has been reluctant to sign a new deal with the Reds who have been in talks with his representatives for the past 2 years.

At the age of 24, he can sign a pre-contract agreement with any European side from this month, but the German has kept his options open even claiming that he could still sign a new Liverpool deal.

Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Can could leave Liverpool after this season, but he insisted that the German would still be involved in his team’s game plan as long as he remains committed to the Reds.

The German manager also dismissed any suggestion that Liverpool would sell Can this month, and also admitted that the Reds may not be making any further addition to their squad this month despite losing Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge.

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has completed a loan switch to West Brom leaving former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez purple-faced.

The England attacker has been out of favour at Anfield after falling down the pecking order. His chances of playing for the Reds have not been helped by injuries, poor form and the form of Roberto Firmino.

He has been attracting the attention of some of Europe’s top sides including Sevilla and AC Milan. But he has decided to remain in the EPL.

West Brom were delighted to have sealed the move after they paid Liverpool’s 2 million pound loan fee and had him pass his medical. Alan Pardew would be hoping he can stay fit and fire them to safety this season.

Newcastle were the bookies’ favourites to sign the attacker but were not quick enough to conclude the deal allowing West Brom to steal a march on them. This is the latest episode in the Magpies bid to remain in the Premier League this season, and Rafael Benitez may resign his position if they fail to add a new attacker this month.

Sturridge last started a game for Liverpool in their 1-1 draw against Chelsea last year, but he could make his debut for West Brom at the weekend.

With the transfer market just one day away from closing, Chelsea are yet to sign a target man.

The Blues have spent the whole of this month trying to sign a new target man to help reduce the goalscoring burden on Alvaro Morata, but they have still not gotten a deal over the line.

The likes of Burnley’s Ashley Barnes, Stoke City’s Peter Crouch and Edin Dzeko of AS Roma have been their targets. They have spent the last couple of weeks trying to sign the latter but they seem to have given up on his pursuit.

The Blues have now turned their attention to Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud but Arsenal want to complete the move for Pierre Emerick Aubameyang first before allowing the French man leave. Dortmund in turn also wants to sign a replacement for Aubameyang before completing the switch.

Giroud had been targeted by Dortmund, but the French man has told the Germans he is not interested in moving away from London, clearing the way for Chelsea to sign him.

Reports this morning are now claiming that Antonio Conte would return for Tottenham’s Fernando Llorente should he fails to land Giroud.

Llorente was close to joining Chelsea last summer, but Tottenham hijacked the deal and signed him for 12 million pounds. He has since netted just 2 goals for them this season.

Swansea City have turned their attention to Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic after failing to land Nicolas Gaitan from Atletico Madrid.

Swansea were looking to add Argentina’s Gaitan to their team this month, however, the Argentine is unwilling to move to a side struggling with relegation and they have decided to turn their attention to Markovic.

Markovic has been declared surplus to requirements since Jurgen Klopp became the manager of Liverpool and the closest the Serbian came to playing this season was being named a substitute in their 1-0 loss to Leicester City in the Carabao Cup earlier in the season.

He seems to have impressed Carlos Carvahal during his loan spell at Hull City in the second half of last season. He starred for Marcos Silva’s side as they ultimately failed to escape relegation from the Premier League.

Swansea are hoping to sign him permanently, but in the event that they cannot agree on a fee, the Swans are open to a loan switch with the option of making it permanent at the end of the season.

German side Wolfsburg are also interested in taking Markovic on this month.