Riyad Karim Mahrez was born 21 February 1991 in Sarcelles, France to an Algerian and Moroccan mother and father. He is a professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Manchester City and captains the Algerian national team. His childhood friends included fellow footballers such as Wissam Ben Yedder, a player for Sevilla FC. When Mahrez was fifteen, his father died of a heart attack. He said that this made him more serious and in his head he wanted it more. In 2009, he turned professional with French team Quimper Cornouaille FC where he played made 27 appearances. In 2010 he turned down offers from Marseille and PSG and joined Le Havre. He originally started to play for their reserve team Le Havre II, and then in 2011 he joined the first-team and stayed there until 2014. In January 2014, Mahrez signed a 3.5 year contract with English team Leicester City. In February of the same year, he earned a first-team spot. He helped them win the Championship and was promoted to the Premier League. As a winger he scored 34 goals and assisted 34 assists in 130 games.
Mahrez made his international debut for Algeria in 2014 and represented them at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and at the 2015, 2017 and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, winning the latter edition of the tournament. In 2016 he was named CAF’s African Footballer of the Year. In 2016 he signed a contract with Leicester City which ties him to the club until 2020 and won the Algerian Footballer of the Year and the PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards. He signed with Manchester City in July 2018 which cost them £60 million euros. Mahrez said “I am so pleased to have joined City, a side playing great football under Pep Guardiola.” Mahrez finished the season with 7 goals and 4 assists in 27 games with Manchester City with the team winning the EPL in his first year at the club. Since joining the English Football Premier League Riyad Mahrez has appeared in 166 games, scoring 46 times and assisting teammates to score 31 times.
