Riyad Mahrez offers clarification on role in Rayan Ait-Nouri’s Manchester City transfer | OneFootball

Manchester City’s Rayan Ait-Nouri has seen his international teammate and former Etihad Stadium star Riyad Mahrez offer their own take on the newly-announced deal.

Ait-Nouri has signed a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium after Manchester City agreed a deal worth an initial £31.7 million with Wolves for the left-back, who scored four times and provided seven assists in 37 Premier League outings in the most-recent season.

The 24-year-old has his best years ahead of him and will be moulded into a much more complete player by Pep Guardiola, who introduced the inverted full-back concept to football from his days at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

After passing a medical in Manchester at the weekend, Ait-Nouri was formally announced as a City player on Monday, with more to follow as the Blues look to complete the acquisitions of Lyon’s Rayan Cherki and Chelsea’s Marcus Bettinelli ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.

Manchester City are also expected to announce the signing of AC Milan and Netherlands midfielder Tijjani Reijnders on Tuesday, while expediting paperwork for Cherki and Bettinelli for the pair to be registered in time for the FIFA Club World Cup.

Ait-Nouri’s acquisition, in particular, addresses a key issue that has bothered Manchester City and Pep Guardiola throughout the entirety of the Catalan’s tenure at the Etihad Stadium – the absence of a natural left-back.

City have deployed midfielders, centre-halves and even Bernardo Silva as makeshift left-backs in recent seasons, a tactic that paid greater dividends than ever before as Josko Gvardiol enjoyed a stellar campaign and was by far and away City’s best player last campaign.

Rayan Ait-Nouri follows in the footsteps of Riyad Mahrez as the second Algerian player to have donned the Manchester City jersey under Pep Guardiola. Mahrez won four Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League in a trophy-laden five-year spell at the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking on the subject of Rayan Ait-Nouri’s transfer to Manchester City, the defender’s compatriot and Etihad Stadium legend has spoken on the deal during a recent press conference.

“I’m very happy for Rayan (Ait-Nouri),” Riyad Mahrez told reporters on Monday afternoon, as translated and relayed by DZ Foot. “He (Ait-Nouri) signed for the best club in the world,” Mahrez added.

Mahrez went on to clarify that he had no prior contact with Guardiola in the build-up to the Ait-Nouri deal. “However, no, I haven’t had any contact with (Pep) Guardiola or anyone else about this transfer,” the forward said.

Ait-Nouri will not have to wait too long to get his first Manchester City minutes in the locker as upcoming Club World Cup commitments mean Guardiola and co will be flying to the United States ahead of their tournament opener against Wydad AC.