Barcelona odds on to sign Riyad Mahrez as Chelsea look set to lose out on top target again
Mahrez is away on international duty with Algeria but has been allowed to leave to finalise a move away from Leicester
BARCELONA were cut to ODDS ON to sign Riyad Mahrez as the Catalans moved to hijack Chelsea's bid for the Algerian.
At one point, the price on a shock deal to take Mahrez to the Nou Camp was briefly as short as 4/6.
Mahrez, 26, has been released from international training to finalise a move away from Leicester, thought to be worth £45million.
But his destination has been one of the biggest riddles of Deadline Day.
Chelsea were in pole position to sign the 2016 Player of Year after out-bidding London rivals Arsenal.
Yet the Barcelona move came from nowhere.
By lunchtime, with his future yet to be resolved, panicked bookies at Sun Bets slashed his odds to 4/6 after seeing the market shift.
Punters, though, have cooled on the move and the most recent prices put Chelsea at 4/5 favourites, with Barcelona second at 5/4.
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Sun Bets spokesman Tim Reynolds said: "Nobody saw this coming. At the start of the day, all the money was on Chelsea - then when the Barcelona rumours started the whole industry reached for the scissors.
"Although Barca have now drifted to slight odds-on favourites it is still an incredibly short price."
