Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City will not be signing a like-for-like replacement for Riyad Mahrez, who joined the Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli on Friday, July 28, 2023.

On the club’s pre-season tour of South Korea on Saturday, the Manchester City manager added that the summer spending of Saudi Pro League clubs has “changed the market.”

“We are not looking for a replacement of Riyad in terms of skill because every player is different,” Guardiola said after Mahrez, who won four Premier League titles at City, departed for a Ksh5.4 billion fee. “We will see what happens with loan players and which players stay here. A few things are going to happen.”

“Saudi Arabia has changed the market. A few months ago, when Cristiano [Ronaldo] was the only one to go, no one thought this many top, top players would play in the Saudi league.

“In the future, there will be more and that’s why clubs need to be aware of what is happening. Riyad got an incredible offer [from Al-Ahli] and that’s why we could not say ‘don’t do it’.”

Mahrez was the second departure from City’s treble-winning side after Ilkay Gundogan’s move to Barcelona on a free transfer. The former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic is their only signing so far and full-back Kyle Walker has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich.