Riyad Karim Mahrez (born 21 February 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a right winger. Born in France, he represented the Algeria national team. He is regarded as one of the best African players of all time.
Mahrez began his career as a youth player for French club AAS Sarcelles. He turned professional in 2009 with Quimper, where he played for only one season before moving to Le Havre, spending a total of three years with them, initially playing for their reserve team and then becoming a first-team regular. In January 2014, Mahrez signed for English side Leicester City, helping them win the Championship and promotion to the Premier League at the end of his first season. In the 2015–16 season, he was the Algerian Footballer of the Year, the PFA Players' Player of the Year, and was a member of the Premier League PFA Team of the Year as he helped Leicester City win the Premier League. Mahrez signed for Manchester City in 2018, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and EFL Cup in his first season. He went on to win a further three league titles, one FA Cup, two EFL Cups and a UEFA Champions League in 2022–23 as part of a continental treble whilst at City. In July 2023, he joined Saudi side Al-Ahli, winning two AFC Champions League Elite titles and the Saudi Super Cup.
Mahrez made his international debut for Algeria in 2014, representing the nation at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2026 as well as the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025, winning the 2019 tournament. In 2016, he was named CAF's African Footballer of the Year.
Mahrez was born in Clichy, a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, to an Algerian father and a Moroccan mother of Algerian and Moroccan descent. His father Ahmed was from Beni Snous, Tlemcen Province. Growing up, Mahrez would regularly spend his holidays in Algeria. His childhood friends included fellow footballers, such as Wissam Ben Yedder.
Mahrez's father had played football in Algeria. When Mahrez was fifteen, his father died of a heart attack. He reflected that "I don't know if I started to be more serious but after the death of my dad things started to go for me. Maybe in my head, I wanted it more".
Although often overlooked by teams due to his slender build, Mahrez developed ball skills that brought him attention.
He joined AAS Sarcelles in 2004. He had a two-month trial at Scottish club St Mirren, but left due to the cold weather.
In 2009, Mahrez joined CFA side Quimper from AAS Sarcelles, making 22 appearances and scoring 2 goals in his first season with the club. While playing for Quimper, he lived with Mathias Pogba.
He joined Le Havre in 2010, turning down offers from leading French teams Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille to join them, being enticed by Le Havre's youth system. He initially played for their reserve team, Le Havre II, before going on to play 60 times and score 6 goals for the first team in the French Ligue 2 from 2011 until leaving in January 2014. He criticised Ligue 2 for what he saw as reliance on defence and teams aiming for a goalless draw in every match.
While Mahrez was playing for Le Havre, English Championship club Leicester City's scout Steve Walsh was monitoring teammate Ryan Mendes, but was instead impressed by Mahrez. Mahrez had never heard of Leicester, whom he initially presumed to be a rugby club. On 11 January 2014, he was signed by Leicester City on a three-and-a-half-year contract for around £450,000. His friends and family were initially sceptical of a move to English football due to its physical nature, believing that his style of play would be more suited to Spain.
Mahrez made his debut on 25 January 2014, coming on in the 79th minute as a substitute replacing fellow winger Lloyd Dyer, in the 2–0 win against Middlesbrough. After making four substitute appearances for Leicester, including scoring his first goal for the club, an 82nd-minute equaliser against local rivals Nottingham Forest, manager Nigel Pearson announced in February 2014 that he thought Mahrez was ready to start games. Leicester ended the season as winners of the Championship, returning to the Premier League for the first time in ten years.
Mahrez made his Premier League debut on 16 August 2014, and scored his first goal in the division on 4 October 2014 in a 2–2 draw with Burnley. Mahrez was part of the Leicester team that won seven of its final nine matches of the season to avoid relegation to the Football League. He scored both goals in a 2–0 defeat of Southampton on 9 May and ended the season with four goals and three assists from 30 appearances.
He signed a new four-year contract with Leicester in August 2015. On 8 August 2015, Mahrez scored two goals in the season opener against Sunderland in a 4–2 home win. He was later described as the club's "match winner" by captain Wes Morgan, following "superb form" which saw him score four goals in the first three games of the season.
After scoring four goals in the opening four games of the 2015–16 season, Mahrez was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award. By 3 November 2015, he had scored seven goals in 10 Premier League games. On 5 December, Mahrez scored a hat-trick as Leicester defeated Swansea City 3–0 to go top of the Premier League, putting him on ten league goals for the season and making him the first Algerian to score a Premier League hat-trick. Mahrez and his midfield partners Marc Albrighton, N'Golo Kanté and Danny Drinkwater received plaudits for their part in Leicester's early season run of form, and manager Claudio Ranieri described Mahrez and forward Jamie Vardy as "priceless" ahead of the January transfer window.
In January 2016, Mahrez's transfer value was said to have risen from £4.5 million to £30.1 million, ranking him among the top 50 most valuable players in Europe. In the same year, Mahrez's popularity in his homeland led Leicester to have over almost three times as many Facebook fans in Algeria than in the UK. The barbershop in Sarcelles that he frequented from his childhood became a destination for fans from as far as Belgium, desiring the same haircut.
Mahrez was one of four Leicester players named in the PFA Team of the Year in April 2016, and later that month he won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award. He was the first African to earn the accolade. When Leicester finished the season as champions, Mahrez became the first Algerian to win a Premier League medal.
He signed a new four-year contract with Leicester in August 2016. He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or in October 2016, finishing seventh. He won the BBC African Footballer of the Year award in December 2016. Mahrez did not have a great season, especially with the decline in the level of Leicester, but helped the team get to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time, scoring four goals and two assists. On 6 May, Mahrez played his 100th Premier League game for Leicester, against Watford, scoring in the process.
At the end of the 2016–17 season, Mahrez announced that he wished to leave the club. Following the announcement, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger stated his interest in signing Mahrez, and Italian side Roma had a bid for Mahrez rejected in July 2017. In August 2017 he spoke of his "focus" despite his uncertain future at the club. The Algerian Football Federation reported on 31 August, the last day of the transfer window, that it had allowed him to leave the national team and travel quickly to Europe in order to complete his transfer to an interested club; this transfer did not materialise. In January 2018 he again asked for a transfer away from the club. After a move to Manchester City fell through, Mahrez stopped attending training at Leicester. His behaviour was criticised by commentator and former player Chris Sutton. Mahrez was critical about the "untrue assumptions" about his absence from the team, and later thanked his teammates for their support.