‘So proud of him’ – Some Man City fans laud ‘fantastic’ £60m superstar after career milestone

Riyad Mahrez will captain Algeria as they defend their African Cup of Nations crown next month, named by coach Djamel Belmadi to lead his 28-man squad at the tournament in Cameroon.

The Manchester City attacker is one of 15 players from the squad that won the last finals in 2019 to return for the delayed 2021 edition, where Algeria compete in Group E against Equatorial Guinea, the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.

Pep Guardiola will have to make do without the 30-year-old for however long he is away, although Mahrez is at least the only member of his squad that will be absent for that time.

The group stages get under way in host nation Cameroon on January 9, with Algeria kicking off their first match two days later.

Mahrez, who signed for City for £60m according to BBC Sport, will likely be one of the stars of the show in a packed Algeria squad that includes the likes of Said Benrahma, Adam Ounas and Youcef Atal.

Their third and final group stage match is on January 20, although they will be hoping to go much further in the competition; the final takes place four weeks later on February 6.

With Mahrez being named captain, many supporters on social media are buzzing to see their attacker be handed such a prestigious honour ahead of a major competition.

Here’s what some City supporters had to say about the news on Twitter…

Deffo didn’t see that coming

— Rodri Enthusiast (@Weezy_ef) December 25, 2021

So proud of him. 💙

— Habiba (@ItzHabibz) December 25, 2021

Fantastic Mahrez

— Tendai Malvin (@Malvin2Tendai) December 25, 2021

and he will win it

— ①⑦ (@slawoid) December 25, 2021

captain my captain

— Riyad #Mahrezsterclass (@Mahsterclass) December 25, 2021

He should captain Manchester City as well

— π (@xMcfc_oKx) December 25, 2021