Report: Manchester City refutes Puel's disrespect claims over Mahrez pursuit

Manchester City has reacted strongly to Claude Puel's claims that the club acted disrespectfully in its pursuit of Riyad Mahrez, according to The Telegraph's James Ducker.

News that the cash-rich outfit was chasing the Leicester City winger emerged in the January transfer window's final two days, with the Premier League leader refusing to meet a valuation that was reportedly as high as £95 million. Mahrez subsequently handed in a transfer request and missed two matches while he was absent from Leicester training, and Puel blames Manchester City for unsettling his player.

"We need perhaps some others' respect," Puel said in a press conference on Wednesday.

"To make solicitation just one or two days before the end of the transfer window, I don't know if it's normal. I can't suffer this situation. Some teams can have a lot of possibility to replace players - they have a different situation to manage.

"We don't have a lot of players with the same quality as Riyad. For some other teams, it's not a difficulty to replace their players."

Manchester City hit back at Puel's assertions, however, with the club's director of football, Txiki Begiristain, first enquiring about Mahrez a week before the close of the transfer window. Begiristain was apparently encouraged by how early talks went with Leicester, with the Foxes suggesting the use of Manchester City's Patrick Roberts, the 21-year-old on loan at Celtic, as a makeweight in the deal.

Mahrez returned to action last weekend in a crushing 5-1 defeat at Manchester City, and there is no word on whether Pep Guardiola's side will revisit its interest in the Algerian at the end of the season.