In the early morning of July 16, Premier League giant Manchester City officially announced that it had renewed the contract with 31-year-old Algerian winger Mahrez until the summer of 2025. After joining the team in the summer of 2018, the former Premier League MVP has played 189

In the early morning of July 16, Premier League giants Manchester City officially announced that they have renewed their contract with 31-year-old Algerian winger Mahrez until the summer of 2025. After joining the team in the summer of 2018, the former Premier League MVP has played 189 games in all competitions for Manchester City, scoring 63 goals and providing 46 assists. His performance is very stable. This summer, Manchester City has sent away two forwards, Sterling and Jesus . Under such circumstances, it is really commendable that the 31-year-old Mahrez can get a three-year contract extension. How is he better than the second young master who was sent away?

Last season, Manchester City struggled to win the Premier League championship, but Champions League failed again and suffered a huge reversal in the semi-finals against Real Madrid . It stands to reason that a single player cannot influence the general trend, but in the most critical game on these two fronts, Mahrez almost ruined Manchester City's season goal by himself. In the 32nd round of the Premier League match with Liverpool , he came off the bench and wasted 2 excellent scoring opportunities. Manchester City ended up drawing 2-2 with Liverpool and lost the best chance to kill the suspense of the Premier League in advance. In the first game of the Champions League semi-finals, although Mahrez provided 1 assist, he once again wasted 3 excellent scoring opportunities, allowing Manchester City to narrowly defeat the opponent 4-3. Although he scored 1 goal in the second round, Manchester City ultimately lost 1-3 and suffered a huge reversal. 2 games, 5 excellent opportunities, Mahrez's ability to seize opportunities in front of the goal made Guardiola on the sidelines hold his head and stamp his feet on the ground, probably wanting to strangle him to death.

However, even if Guardiola is so angry that he can't ignore this set of data, in 47 games for Manchester City last season, Mahrez scored 24 goals and 9 assists. Among them, 24 goals not only set a new high for his career in a single season, but also made him the top scorer in Manchester City for the first time. In other words, without his goals, Manchester City may not be able to defend the Premier League title and reach the top four of the Champions League for two consecutive seasons.

Mahrez has average right foot skills, but he has an almost unsolvable golden left foot. His style in the game is not tough, and he rarely fights directly with his opponents, but this also allows him to rarely get injured, ensuring his high attendance rate. In the four seasons after joining Manchester City in the summer of 2018, Mahrez's lowest number of appearances in a single season was 44 and the highest was 50. A minimum of 12 goals and a maximum of 24 goals in a single season; a minimum of 9 assists and a maximum of 13 assists. In fact, this is Mahrez's biggest advantage. He is not a superstar, but he can guarantee a stable output of nearly double-doubles every season.

The most critical point is that Mahrez is a player who is almost incompetent. Jesus, Sterling and the previous Sane chose to leave the team because they were dissatisfied that they could not guarantee their main position. But this kind of thing does not exist at all with Mahrez. Whether he is the main player or a substitute, he can handle it calmly. Last season, he made 47 appearances, 31 starts, 24 goals and 9 assists. Sterling has 17 goals and 8 assists in 32 starts in 47 games, while Jesus has 13 goals and 11 assists in 28 starts in 41 games. Mahrez's goals and assists data are still much higher than the latter two.

Neither fight nor rush, neither noisy nor noisy, has stable output every season, and its technical characteristics are very consistent with Guardiola's passing and control tactical system, whether it is the original 4-1-4-1 or the subsequent forward-less formation. Mahrez can be found at his fingertips. Now, Harland has arrived. For such an impact center, the former Premier League MVP still has rich experience in cooperation. In the 2015/16 season, he perfectly partnered with grassroots center Vardy to lead Leicester City Staged a fairy tale of winning the Premier League. Therefore, it would be strange for Manchester City to let such a precious player go.