Riyad Mahrez (Arabic: رياض محرز; born 21 February 1991) is a professional footballer who plays for English club Leicester City and the Algerian national team as a winger.
Mahrez began his career as a youth player for French club AAS Sarcelles. He turned professional in 2009 with Quimper, where he played for only one season before moving to Le Havre, spending a total of three years with them, initially playing for their reserve team and then becoming a first-team regular. In January 2014, Mahrez signed for English side Leicester City, helping them win theFootball League Championship and promotion to the Premier League at the end of his first season. In the 2015–16 season he was the Algerian Footballer of the Year, the PFA Players' Player of the Year, and was a member of the Premier League PFA Team of the Year.
Mahrez made his international debut for Algeria in 2014 and represented them at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
Riyad Mahrez has been one of the inspirations behind Leicester's unexpected but widely welcomed Premier League title challenge.
The 25-year-old Algeria international, signed from French side Le Havre for just £400,000 in January 2014, has been a sensation this season, scoring 15 league goals, including the winner against Watford on Saturday.
Mahrez's journey to this point has been far from straightforward.
The slight but talented forward was born in the tough Parisian suburb of Sarcelles and lost his father, Ahmed, to a heart attack at the age of 15.
But his determination and skill took him across France and to the top of the Premier League.
I wasn't rich, I wasn't poor. My dad always was encouraging me, always giving me advice, that's why I'm here, I hope he's happy - that's helped me to be more strong. When your dad die, your mum is alone and in our culture the man is the boss of the house, so I had more responsibility. I still have and I'm proud of that.
Riyad Mahrez, Leicester City
Mahrez used to
visit hairdressers Nassim Coiffure as a child. Nassim and his staff are also Algerian, and the hairdressers - in Sarcelles - remains an anchor for Mahrez, a connection with his past.
Nassim, Mahrez's barber: "All the time, little boys of five or six tell me to give them the Mahrez cut.
"I have a lot of clients now that come because of Riyad. They come from Lille, from Belgium, from everywhere! I know all of his hair, all of the strands. He always changes his hairdo. If he changes his hair people
copy him. If he puts a line in his hair, people put a line in too.
"He's like the Cristiano Ronaldo of Sarcelles. If Riyad does something, everyone imitates him.
"He has changed his team and the country he plays in, but he has never changed his routine. He still hangs out with his friends, he's always in Sarcelles, and Riyad is Riyad. Riyad of Sarcelles is Riyad of Leicester, the same person. He's a wonderful boy.
"I'm so happy for Riyad. When you see him like this in England, in the Premier League, and against Chelsea he got Mourinho fired, it's phenomenal. I get goose bumps when I see Riyad score a goal. I
feel like crying when I see him play."
10 reasons why Riyad Mahrez deserves your ultimate respect
Riyad Mahrez is an incredibly good footballer.
He’s won the PFA Player of the Year and the Premier League as part of Claudio Ranieri’s magic men.
But it’s not just his talent that deserves our ultimate respect.
He is, what used to be known as, a thoroughly good egg.
Here are 11 reasons why he’s a top, top, top bloke.
1 He grew up around violence
The banlieues of Paris are notoriously tough places to grow up and Sarcelles, where Mahrez was born, is no different.
In recent years the suburb has made the news for violent clashes over Gaza and a viral video showing kids as young as 10 brandishing guns.
2 His Dad died when he was 15
And it hit him hard.
Mahrez Senior had been a constant presence in his son’s footballing development and accompanied him to every single game.
3 He vowed to make it as a pro to honour his old man
Mahrez descibes his Dad’s death as the ‘kickstart’ to his career. Instead of retreating into grief, he used the tragedy to be “more serious” about football.
4 Coaches told him he’d never do it
If Mahrez looks stick thin these days, he was even slighter as a kid.
Coach after coach queued up to tell him he was “too skinny” to play professional football, but he was not to be discouraged.
5 He started in a very unlikely place
Not too many players have come all the way from the French 4th division to be the leading light in a title-chasing Premier League team.
The ancient town of Quimper, in Brittany, is not the most likely starting place for a superstar footballer, but that’s where Mahrez cut his teeth.
6 He says no to the money
He stayed loyal to Leicester in January, despite interest from Arsenal, but that wasn’t the first time he’d put his career ahead of financial security.
In the early days at Quimper, both PSG and Marseille wanted to sign him, but the teenager rejected them and moved to second-tier Le Havre instead to develop his game.
7 He’s not just another pampered millionaire footballer
Because of that unlikely route to the top Mahrez is not, in his own words, a “programmed” academy drone who just follows orders.
He’s an instinctive, unpredictable player and that’s what makes him such a joy to watch.
As he says: “Sometimes you see me on the pitch and you think I’m playing on the street.”
8 He gets on with everyone
Even Nigel Pearson. It’s hard to think of two more different personalities than Mahrez and the former Leicester boss who brought him to England, but Mahrez has described Pearson as like a father figure to him.
The fact that he’s blossomed even further under Claudio Ranieri, Pearson’s replacement in rather brutal circumstances, says a lot about his maturity and professionalism.
And he likes making pizza.
9 He’s the first ever Algerian to score a hat-trick in the Premier League
Not even Ali Bernarbia managed that.
10 He’s just a bloody good footballer
It’s not just the quantity of the goals this season, it’s the quality. The stepover and finish against Man City at the Etihad, as well as the curler he pinged into the top corner against Chelsea came against big clubs in big games.
They’ll live long in the memory.
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