MANCHESTER CITY star Riyad Mahrez has withdrawn from the Algeria squad for personal reasons.
Mahrez, 28, the national team captain, has been excused from travelling to Botswana for an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Monday.
Former Leicester star Mahrez provided an assist in Thursday’s 5-0 thrashing of Zambia to kick start their qualifiers for the 2021 finals.
But he did not travel on Friday for their second group game in Group H.
National coach Djamel Belmadi said the winger was left out because of a “personal problem that requires us to let him go” with no further explanation.
Mahrez, who has three goals in 14 appearances for City this season, was one of Algeria’s star players when they won the Cup in Egypt in July.
SunSport told you earlier this month how the footballer was “devastated” after finding out WBC heavyweight champion of the world Deontay Wilder had flirted with his wife.
Pals say the pair were chatting intently at a Manchester nightclub – but there is no suggestion that is the reason behind his withdrawal.
Friends of the footballer have told how one of his sisters pulled Rita away from the boxing champ.
Ex-model Rita, 25, mother of Mahrez’s two children, hit it off with 34-year-old Wilder after they were introduced in the VIP-section of the celebrity-packed nightclub.
A source said: They were chatting intently, laughing and joking. You could see there was chemistry there and a real connection. But because of where it was, a lot of people noticed how well they seemed to be getting along.
Its a club full of footballers and Wags, which even some of Riyads team-mates go to. Rita was actually on a night out with Riyads sisters who she really gets on with.
And they did not appear to be happy with what was going on. One even seemed to go and get Rita, to take her away from Deontay, who was of course trying to keep her with him.
There was a bit of a tug of war over her affections, which of course a few people witnessed.
Mahrez and Rita got married in a secret ceremony in August 2015.
The pair met in 2012 when Mahrez chatted to her on Londons Oxford Street before they swapped phone numbers.
