Leicester City to use Ahmed Musa as Mahrez's replacement as he departs for Manchester City

ENGLISH Premiership side have handed Super Eagles striker Ahmed Musa a lifeline following the expected departure of Algerian forward Riyad Mahrez to Manchester City asking him to take over from the Algerian winger.

Before the World Cup, Leicester manager Claude Puel had planned to overhaul his squad for the new season, with Musa one of those players expected to leave. Already, the club had been in talks with Turkish side Galatasaray over a loan deal with an option to buy Musa if they were happy with him after a season.

However, following Musa's brilliant World Cup outing that saw him score two goals against Iceland, Leicester City have had a rethink and now want the player to stay. Musa holds the honour of being the first and only Leicester City player to have scored at the World with his brace for Nigeria in the 2-0 win over Iceland.

It appears that a loan move to Russian side CSKA Moscow helped Musa discover his form and sharpness. A host of team around Europe, including French side Marseille, Galatasaray plus English Premier League sides Huddersfield, Brighton and the newly promoted duo of Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers have all been linked to him over the last few days.

Algerian winger Mahrez is expected to be sold to Premier League champions Manchester City and instead investing the reported £60m they will get from his sale in a new player, Leicester are planning to allow Musa replace him. Leicester have already instructed Musa to report for pre-season training.