Saudi Arabia has changed football's transfer market in their bid to"create a strong league", Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said on Saturday after Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez left the Premier League club to join Al-Ahli.
Asked if he had wanted Mahrez to remain at City, Guardiola told reporters:"Definitely. I enjoyed as a manager to be with him. I had a special relationship with him... "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 and that's why we could not say don't do it."
City could also lose another player to the Saudi league, with Portuguese international Bernardo Silva linked with a move to Al Hilal, according to British media reports.