Riyad Mahrez’s wife, Taylor Ward, admits to being “haunted” by her husband’s “part of the game, innit” transfer quip before moving to Saudi Arabia.
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Winger left Man City in 2023Move came as a surpriseFamily settled in Middle EastWHAT HAPPENED?
The former Leicester and Manchester City winger bid farewell to the Premier League in the summer of 2023 when linking up with Al-Ahli. That switch came out of the blue, especially to Mahrez’s family, but he was seen shrugging it off on the ‘Married to the Game’ documentary that shows how Taylor, Riyad and their 18-month-old daughter have adjusted to life in Jeddah.
AdvertisementGettyWHAT WARD SAID
Ward has told the of initially being “overwhelmed” and stunned by her husband’s “part of the game” comment: “That line haunts me. I keep seeing it on social media. That whole week was just an emotional rollercoaster really. It was a huge shock and I had absolutely no idea. One day we were planning for Riyad to go back to pre-season with City and then overnight we were moving to Saudi and I was planning this whole move. I think it was just very overwhelming at the time and a massive shock because I just didn't see it coming at all. That scene with Riyad – that is just him to a tee. He is just straight talking and to the point. He is very much just like, ‘it is what it is, you've got to get over it now’, whereas I'm more emotional. That's why we work because I'm a bit of a flapper in those situations and he's very on the ball and just gets on with it.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Model and influencer Ward added on how a shock transfer came about: “We were actually on holiday at the time and there was talk about the move. Riyad had a few years left on his contract at City and was really settled there. Every conversation was ‘we're not going to move yet, it's something we'll consider in a few years’. I started hearing people from Saudi showing interest but never thought anything would come of it. He flew home two days early to start pre-season so as far as I was concerned he was going back to Man City and that was it. One day he rang me while I was sat on the beach and said ‘we're moving and I'm going tomorrow, that's it’. He put me on the phone to one of the girls at the club and I burst into tears – I was like ‘I can't believe this is happening’. It happened so quick, you don't get a minute to say bye to everyone. One minute he was starting pre-season, the next he was saying goodbye.”
DID YOU KNOW?
While moving to the Middle East has been something of a culture shock, Ward insists that Mahrez and Co have no intention of returning to the Premier League any time soon – with ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson having already moved his family back to Europe after finding the going tough at Al-Ettifaq. Ward added: “Football is so unpredictable, when that transfer window opens you have no idea what's going to happen. For now, the plan is to stay in Saudi for a few years and enjoy it. I put so much effort into making this house nice so I want to live in it for a bit and enjoy settling down. We'll see, who knows – right now he's really enjoying it. He loves his club and he's met some nice friends, a few other French guys on the team who he gets on really well with.”