Riyad Mahrez is finally back to his best after a frustrating debut season with Manchester City and the Premier League champions are reaping the rewards as they fight to keep pace with title rivals Liverpool.

When Pep Guardiola’s side host Wolves on Sunday without the injured Kevin De Bruyne, Algeria winger Mahrez will be ready to shoulder the burden of driving City towards another priceless victory.

It is a far cry from Mahrez’s first few months at the Etihad Stadium, when his then club-record o60 million ($74 million) switch from Leicester was in danger of becoming a nightmare. Unable to recapture the form that won him the PFA player of the year award for his instrumental role in Leicester’s 2016 Premier League title triumph, Mahrez cut a miserable figure. It did not help that the superb form of Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva stopped Mahrez from garnering enough playing time to recover his rhythm.

Guardiola has since hinted that Mahrez became unhappy at his lack of action and let it affect his performances.

“He’s quality. Perhaps the only thing he has to improve is to be more relaxed when he doesn’t play.