"He's a bit sad at the moment so I'll wait until we lift the trophy" - Mahrez was 'killing' Arsenal star on phone during PL title race
Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez has revealed that he has been bantering with Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko this season. The Algerian added that he was waiting for the Cityzens to win the title before calling his former teammate again.
Zinchenko moved from Manchester City to Arsenal last summer and has been a key part of Mikel Arteta's side. The Gunners were confident about winning the title this season but slipped up in the last few weeks and are now set to finish second.
Speaking to beIN SPORTS, Mahrez revealed that he is in touch with the Arsenal star and has been 'killing' him about the Gunners bottling the league. He said:
"I'm killing him! Yeah, I'm always on the phone to him. He's my friend so we're always joking about things and talking about stuff. But he's a bit sad at the moment so I'll wait until we lift the trophy and then I'll call him again."
Arsenal lost their last two matches to Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest, and that will see Manchester City have the title celebration at home on Sunday after their match against Chelsea.
Former Manchester City was confident about Arsenal winning the title
Oleksandr Zinchenko spoke to the media earlier this month and claimed that he was still confident about Arsenal winning the Premier League title. He was quoted by MEN saying:
"If you don't believe, there is no point playing. So of course I do. When I had just arrived I said the quality everyone has here is incredible, the energy as well. I said everything is possible in this life if we're going to work so hard. And that's what we're trying to do. It was an important three points for us obviously. In terms of our reaction, we bounced back quite good after the last couple of games where we dropped a lot of points."
He added:
"The win is so important for us to be back in a routine, for the mood in the dressing room and in terms also for our league position. So, let's keep going. Unfortunately it is not in our hands, but you never know what can happen in this league. From us, we need to be focused on our performances. That's it. We need to keep fighting, because we worked so hard during this season."
The Gunners are set to finish the season trophyless after an impressive season.