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Tottenham want Riyad Mahrez for Champions League push

By Rucker Haringey

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 06: Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City celebrates scoring his sides second goal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Watford at The King Power Stadium on May 6, 2017 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 06: Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City celebrates scoring his sides second goal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Watford at The King Power Stadium on May 6, 2017 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Tottenham want Mahrez because of his Champions League success

If Tottenham were guilty of bottling anything this year it certainly wasn’t their push for a Premier League title. Instead, it would be the club’s failure to make it out of the Champions League group stage. Spurs are determined to correct that next season and purchasing Riyad Mahrez would be designed to push the club further on Europe’s biggest stage.

Reports from England claim that Mahrez has informed Leicester City officials that he expects the club to honor their word and let him leave this summer. That news has put several Premier League clubs on high alert. In particular, Tottenham and Arsenal are being linked with strong interest in the Algerian winger.

Mahrez joins the likes of Wilfried Zaha and Douglas Costa on Mauricio Pochettino’s summer shopping list. The Argentine boss clearly wants to strengthen the club’s wide options before next season. The real question now becomes which target Spurs will chase the most.

If the move was simply about building a better club for the future, Zaha could easily be the choice. He’s the youngest of the trio and his ability to qualify as a homegrown player is a nice touch. That isn’t what the search for a wide man is about though. It’s clearly about giving the Tottenham squad the firepower they need to be a legitimate Champions League contender.

That narrows the field to Costa and Mahrez. Both have significant Champions League experience with their current clubs. Mahrez has shown the ability to star for a side that can punch above their weight in the competition. That’s why he gets the nod over his Brazilian competitor.

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While Mahrez’s Premier League campaign has been pretty pedestrian, his Champions League run has been outstanding. He’s earned a Whoscored.com player rating average of 7.41 in nine UCL starts this year. His four goals and two assists helped Leicester advance much further than most expected.

Tottenham, for all of their talented attackers, are short on Champions League experience. Adding a player with Mahrez’s history in the competition would drastically increase the club’s chances of success. That’s precisely why Daniel Levy will insert himself into what should be a hotly contested transfer race.

In the end, Tottenham’s ability to sign Mahrez will likely come down to finances. If his price stays around the £30 million mark then Spurs will strongly consider making the move. If it goes much higher than that, the club may be forced to focus their attention on Costa or Zaha instead.

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If Spurs do sign Mahrez, you can count on him being in the starting XI for every Champions League match they compete in next season. Their fervent hope is that he can replicate his form from this year’s competition. If he does, look for Pochettino’s squad to make a run on the grand stage.

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