The Algerian Riyad Mahrez will wear the Manchester City uniform preceded by his performance in the historic title he won with Leicester in 2016

A new figure will arrive at Pep Guardiola's Manchester City for the 2018-19 season of the Premier League. This is the 27-year-old Algerian Riyad Mahrez, who in the last four years played in Leicester City, a team that won the title of the League of England in the 2015-16 season.

Since that coronation with the Foxes, Mahrez had been followed by the Cityzens. The soccer player had opportunities to go to other leagues of the same level as the English and was close to leaving Leicester before the start of the 2017-18 edition. A year later, he ended up deciding for Manchester City, perhaps motivated by the footprint that African players have been leaving in that competition.

Leer en español. Africanos en la Premier League: Riyad Mahrez, el argelino que vestirá el uniforme del Manchester

According to 90 Minutos, one of the first Africans to enroll in the history of the Premier League was Emmanuel Adebayor. The man from Togo scored 97 goals in 242 games he played in four clubs: Arsenal, Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Manchester City.

The Togolese player was followed by Didier Drogba, the striker who figured at Chelsea and was part of the London club take-off. 90 Minutos also notes that the Ivorian beat Adebayor's record by scoring 104 goals in 254 games.

However, the African man of the moment is Mohamed Salah, who with the shirt of Liverpool reached the final of the Champions League in the 2017-18 season, although in the end the team lost against Real Madrid. According to WhoScored, the Egyptian, who played in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, scored 48 goals in 57 games for the Reds, beating Drogba, who scored 20 goals in a year.

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Another African player who is not a striker, but has a great scoring capacity, is Yaya Touré, who arrived in England in 2010 after three years at the Barcelona of Spain. The midfielder is still remembered for his eight seasons and the same number of titles he got with the Cityzens. His best scoring record, explains 90 Minutos, was in the 2013-14 edition when he scored 20 goals. The Ivorian finally left the Cityzens for alleged friction with Pep Guardiola, who had already directed him in the Catalan team.

Mahrez dreams of equaling or improving the records already harvested by Drogba, Adebayor, Touré, and Salah. Manchester City paid Leicester 68 million euros to take the soccer player that in his years with the Foxes achieved 48 goals and 38 assists in 179 games, according to Transfermarkt. However, what remains in the memory is the league title obtained in 2016 alongside other figures such as Jamie Vardy, N'Golo Kanté, and Kasper Schmeichel, under the technical direction of Claudio Ranieri.

Of course, the competition will not be easy for Mahrez since he will have to fight for a place in the title with other players of the likes of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, and Bernardo Silva.

LatinAmerican Post | Yeinson Fajardo Bohórquez

Translated from "Africanos en la Premier League: Riyad Mahrez, el argelino que vestirá el uniforme del Manchester"