Did you know St Mirren turned down a 17-year-old Riyad Mahrez after a month-long trial in 2009?
Maybe. It has been mentioned before. But what about the fact that Britain’s Got Talent winner Paul Potts and X Factor finalists JLS were part of the story?
Since that unsuccessful stint in Scotland, Manchester City’s Algerian forward has gone on to claim seven major honours south of the border – including three Premier League titles – and will hope to become a Champions League winner on Saturday after firing his side into the final.
But how did the £60m signing manage to slip through St Mirren’s net when they were languishing in the bottom of half of the Scottish top flight 12 years ago?
‘He needs to eat more porridge’
Meet Jake Duncan, the representative who facilitated Mahrez’s trial in Paisley.
“Riyad flew in at my expense on 25 January, 2009,” Duncan tells BBC Scotland, reading the date from the flight tickets in his hand. “I always carry them and show them off a bit.”
With Duncan’s primary source of income coming from music promotion, where he has worked with a fair share of familiar faces, his involvement in football is a “hobby”.
However, he has flirted with success in the sport and considers his time working with a quiet and humble Mahrez as the closest he has ever got to a big break in the game.
“My French contact used to arrange bounce games in a suburban region of Paris,” Duncan says. “A lot of the time I had to send my scout, but he watched a game and told me I had to take a look at this boy.”
France-born Mahrez’s technical ability was plain to see, but the teenager was slight in build. That physique – or lack of – was something Duncan was keen to point out when recommending him to clubs.
“I send out a standard A4 client information sheet with basic details – height, weight, date of birth,” Duncan explains. “At the bottom I usually write some additional comments. For Riyad’s, I wrote: “Clever and technical player for his age; good dead ball exponent; but needs to eat more porridge.”
‘He would absolutely rinse the other boys’
That client information sheet made its way to then St Mirren academy manager David Longwell, who had an established relationship with Duncan.
A steady stream of trialists arrived at Prestwick Airport from France and would pitch up at a hotel based in a Paisley pub. They would then train for a few days before trying to impress in bounce games.
A lot were not at the required level and would be sent home, but Mahrez stood out, prompting a longer stay.
“Riyad was very underdeveloped,” Longwell tells BBC Scotland. “But, even back then, he had real technical quality. You saw it with the way he moved with the ball. I always remember phoning Jake to rave about how good he was.
“I can’t help laughing when I look back, but we used to train at a freezing cold indoor pitch that wasn’t too glamorous and you would see Riyad absolutely rinsing the other boys in five-a-side games.”
While Mahrez’s tricks and flicks provided the heat on the frosty training pitches, he also caught the eye when it came to game time. The first friendly came against a local men’s junior side, and Duncan remembers a physical introduction.
“Right away you could see he had something,” he says. “But he was getting knocked about a bit. Junior footballers don’t take too kindly to French teenagers running rings around them…”
‘Jetting around Europe with Paul Potts’
Mahrez’s promise encouraged Longwell to arrange further fixtures against higher-quality opposition, as he continued to impress.
However, with Duncan’s priorities lying in the music touring business, he had to take feedback over the phone rather than seeing it for himself.
“I was jetting around Europe with Paul Potts,” Duncan says. “I was setting up JLS’ first tour at the time as well.
“I remember being backstage in Stockholm and Davie Longwell phoned me and said: ‘You’ll never believe it, that wee boy’s just scored a hat-trick in the first 15 minutes!’
“I was thinking, what else does he have to do? You can imagine that was Riyad’s stance as well.”
‘That helped me become the player I am’
After scoring seven goals in four games without any sign of a contract, Mahrez’s patience wore thin.
In an interview with L’Equipe, the City man revealed he fled Scotland by taking a bike from his hotel before getting a train to the airport.
Mahrez doesn’t reflect on his time in Paisley too fondly, describing the Scottish weather as “abuse” – to the point he feigned injury to avoid training. But despite that, he looks back on that time as defining in his career.
“I really improved physically,” he told Unscriptd. “When I came back to France, I had better movement. That helped me become the player I am now. Now it has become my strength.”
In the end, Longwell’s hands were tied. Scotland’s academy structure at the time meant Mahrez had to move up to the senior set-up on his 18th birthday – which came less than a month after his arrival.
That meant the final decision came down to the first-team management, who felt Mahrez didn’t boast the physical attributes to succeed in the Scottish game.
“You can criticise the club,” Longwell says. “But it’s so good to see someone like Riyad do so well by using an experience like that. He had a great attitude, but he just hadn’t physically developed.
“It’s pleasing to read that he benefited from the time we coached him. That’s great for my staff and the boys that played in that team. I just think it was a case of right place, wrong time.”
Mahrez would go on to sign for French sixth-tier side Quimper before joining Ligue 2 club Le Harve 12 months later. Four years on, Leicester sealed a £450,000 deal for his services.
“One day, I saw that a lad called Riyad Mahrez had signed for Leicester,” Duncan says. “I thought, ‘I know that boy!’. He was a great lad and a brilliant player with huge potential.
“If I depended on that sort of work for my income I might have pushed harder to get him a club, but I was too busy with my own business.”
So the moral of the story is that St Mirren are not to blame for missing the chance to sign Riyad Mahrez – instead, it’s the fault of Paul Potts and JLS.
