Manchester City midfielder Riyad Mahrez, July 8, 2020 at the Etihad Stadium / POOL/AFP/Archives
Riyad Mahrez hit and used the ball in his city of Sarcelles in the Paris suburbs, which this “crazy footballer” dared to leave at 18 without entering a training center. A profitable choice: despite an “atypical” course, here is the “anomaly” Mahrez at the top.
If we rewind his story, no one would have imagined that the young attacking midfielder from Val-d’Oise would face Paris SG on Wednesday in the Manchester City jersey in the first leg of the Champions League (9:00 p.m.).
In reality “only one person believed it, it was Riyadh himself”, confides Hayel Mbemba, former teammate at AAS Sarcelles, the club where the Algerian international learned his football. “He has above-average strength of character”, assures his friend who describes him as “a football madman and again, that’s an understatement”.
At 11:00 p.m., in his Sablons district, it was not uncommon to come across Riyad kicking a football. “As soon as there was a field, he played, even without light, no one could stop him!”, laughs Hayel Mbemba who was also his supervisor in college.
“His success is all down to himself. He had an unshakable confidence, even in the face of a hard blow. Some people may think it’s arrogance but it’s not,” explains Mohamed Coulibaly, the director of AAS Sarcelles.
– “Too frail” –
To whoever wanted to listen, the young Riyad said: “I’ll get there, I don’t know how but I’m going to play the World Cup in Brazil”. His educators retorted: “You can’t even play Sarcelles!”, Recounts Mohamed Coulibaly.
Riyad Mahrez after scoring a goal with Manchester City against Southampton on March 10, 2021 in Manchester / POOL/AFP/Archives
Young, the “nugget of Sarcelles” had the technical qualities but “his physical delay” played against him, explain his former educators.
At 18, the switch occurs. He leaves Sarcelles to try out in Quimper (Finistère) which evolves in CFA. Then, “he goes in search of a professional contract” and “brings up his courage” and applies to teams where there are professional reserves such as Marseille or Le Havre, details Hayel Mbemba.
The Norman club which plays in L2 made him sign his first professional contract with the reserve team in 2011.
After four years in Le Havre where he ended up joining the first team, Riyad Mahrez left to try the English adventure with Leicester, which then played in the second division.
At the start, the player is “hesitant”. He “seeks the advice of his friends in Sarcelles and ends up convincing himself to go there”, confides his entourage.
Riyad Mahrez surrounded by his relatives during Leicester’s English championship title, May 7, 2016 in Leicester / AFP / Archives
From then on, Riyad Mahrez wrote his legend: after Leicester’s rise to the Premier League, he was from the epic of the modest “Foxes” to the title of champion of England in 2016, under the nose and beard of the big clubs of the country.
Then he signed among Manchester City’s superstars in 2018 and won a new league title there in 2019, also lifting the African Cup of Nations with the Algerian team.
– “A source of inspiration” –
“His career is an anomaly of football. He thwarted the predictions with his technical qualities”, analyzes Hayel Mbemba.
For Franck Satougle, a former senior teammate at Sarcelles, “Mahrez is the best in the world. When I watch him on TV, he was doing the same dribbles when he was 10”, certifies the one who also coached in U13.
His career, “it’s the dream of all young people from the suburbs, he is a few steps away from winning the most beautiful European trophy with an atypical career,” enthuses the coach.
He saw Riyad Mahrez grow up, “the ball addict” and still remembers that “even while playing with the pros in Le Havre, he came back on Sundays to play football in front of his building!”.
In Sarcelles, it’s “local pride”, confirms Patrick Haddad, the mayor of the town located less than 20 km north of Paris. He awarded him the city medal in 2019, during a ceremony at the town hall under the moved eyes of his mother Halima.
“Riyad is a respected person, who has exemplary physical and mental discipline. He is a source of inspiration for the Sarcellois”, supports the mayor.
Riyad Mahrez poses with the mayor of Sarcelles after receiving the city’s medal, July 26, 2019 / AFP/Archives
“He’s a good guy who has kept his child’s soul and who expresses himself with the ball,” adds his friend Hayel Mbemba.
The captain of the Algerian team has remained attached to his city. He is part of a transmission process by inviting young people to Manchester to attend Citizens matches and discuss this so “atypical” journey started in Sarcelles, where a stadium in his name will be inaugurated this summer.
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