Riyad Mahrez is one of the best wingers to grace the Premier League in the last few years and one of the best African players in recent years. Formerly at Leicester City and Manchester City, he won a lot of Premier League trophies and a Champions League as well. He spent 5 years at the latter club and left last year.
The Algerian winger decided to make the move to the growing Saudi Pro League, earning a huge contract in the process from Saudi club Al Ahli. But it seems that not everyone in his family wanted the move to happen.
Riyad Mahrez’s wife reveals his response to Saudi transfer
Riyad Mahrez has a wife by the name of Taylor Ward, and she has revealed that she was reluctant to make the move to Saudi Arabia. While her husband is Algerian, she is a British national.
Recently, a new Amazon Prime documentary named ‘Married To The Game’ was released. It was a documentary about the lives of the wives and girlfriends of some former and current soccer superstars in the Premier League.
One of the players was Riyad Mahrez, and his wife Taylor also appeared there in an episode. She was then preparing to move with her husband and daughter, Mila, to leave England for Saudi Arabia. She revealed that her husband informed her of the decision to move so far away, and she started to break down in tears, as she would have to go somewhere else with a vastly different culture. “Riyad rang me and basically told me we are moving to Saudi.”
She then told Riyad that she was going to be lonely there: “I’m going to be sat at home on my own.” But the Algerian had a blunt response, “It’s part of the game innit.” It was an obvious reference to the fact that sometimes sacrifices need to be made for the greater good of the family.
Many players and their families have not managed to settle in well in their new country, due to huge differences both in weather and culture. Jordan Henderson is a prime example of this, with him and his family unhappy in the country after moving to Al Ettifaq last year. He has already left the club in six months and is now at Dutch club Ajax. Riyad’s own teammate, Roberto Firmino could also be next to leave the Saudi league.
Riyad Mahrez’s performances in Saudi Pro League
Riyad Mahrez is certainly living his best life in Saudi Arabia, unlike his wife. The player has once again returned to his best performances, playing regularly for Al Ahli, where he is joined by other European soccer stars such as Gabri Veiga, Franck Kessie, Roberto Firmino, Allan-Saint Maximin, and Eduardo Mendy.
He has been in every league game so far, starting all of them as well. In only 19 games, the winger has scored 8 goals and assisted 7 times as well. Riyad has certainly fit in well, and the club is also benefiting hugely. They are only 3rd in the league, six points behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr and 13 points behind Al Hilal.
The Saudi Pro League is currently enjoy a mid-season break, but both Riyad Mahrez and Ahli will be back to the pitch on February 15 when they face Al Akhdoud.
