By kayode OGUNDARE
As a measure of how much he has grown over the last few seasons, Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez is set to become the subject of furious war among some of Europe’s biggest teams and they don’t come bigger than Spanish side FC Barcelona.
The Spaniard are stepping up their pursuit of the Algerian who scored his 15th Prem goal of the season to extend the Foxes’ lead at the Premier League summit to five points on Saturday.
Leicester fans may have just nine matches left with the North African in their colours — as the European champions gear up for a £15million summer swoop for a player who cost just £750,000 when he was snapped up from French side Le Havre in 2013.
Barca coach Luis enrique has told the Camp Nou bosses to make Mahrez their priority this summer.
Mahrez is understood to have been moved ahead of Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus in the Barca wish-list.
Luis Enrique has had the 25-year-old Mahrez watched on a number of occasions this term after being impressed with his creativity and the scoring instincts he demonstrated once again at Vicarage Road.
And while Mahrez is under contract at Leicester until 2019, the chance to move to the club which could dominate the European scene for the next decade may too too tempting for the wide-man to turn down.
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