Arsene Wenger refuses to deny Arsenal has made bid for Riyad Mahrez

Arsene Wenger confirmed that he was watching Riyad Mahrez as a potential summer signing during an interview just ahead of Leicester City's game against Paris Saint-Germain. The French manager was watching the Premier League champions take on the Ligue 1 winners in Los Angeles, which the English team lost 4-0.

The Gunners have been linked with a move for Mahrez, who scored 17 goals and provided 11 assists to help the Foxes to win the league title last year and according to the Mirror, the north London club are planning a bid of around £35m ($46.3m). The Algerian playmaker has been offered a new deal by Leicester with Claudio Ranieri urging the midfielder to snub interest from the top clubs and commit his future to the champions.

Wenger refused to deny a possible bid for Mahrez, stating that he does not like to publicise his transfer dealings. The Frenchman however admitted that one of the reasons for watching the game at the Stubhub Centre was because Arsenal travel to the King Power Stadium on 20 August which will be their second game of the upcoming Premier League season.

"Yes, of course, we watch all the players, you know. But we play Leicester in the second game of the championship so of course it's a good opportunity for us tonight to see them," Wenger told bein sportsduring a pitch side interview in LA.

"I cannot give you a yes or no because we do not publicise our transfer interest. The best way to make things happen is to keep it as secret as possible," he added.

Arsenal are currently on their pre-season tour of the United States and concluded their playing commitments with a 3-1 win over Chivas de Guadalajara on Sunday (31 August). They had previously beaten the MLS All Stars and will now travel to Norway to face Viking FC, before heading to Sweden for their final pre-season game against Manchester City at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg.