Yet Mahrez, who joined Man City on Tuesday for a fee reported by British media to be 60 million pounds, feels that they have the tools required to lift European club football's elite trophy next season on Thursday.
"It's a club who wants to win this type of trophy," the 27-year-old said at a news conference.
"The Champions League is for big clubs. City are a big club with everything needed to try to win the Champions League."
"That's why I'm here, why I made the decision to come here, because I want to be part of this."
Mahrez was wanted by Man City manager Pep Guardiola in January but the club did not meet Leicester's valuation of the player, prompting the Algerian to hand in a transfer request and skip training.
"Maybe it could have happened sooner but it's destiny, it happened like this," he added.
"If I moved sooner, maybe I wouldn't have been happy. Now I'm very happy to have moved to City."
"I don't want to talk about the past too much. Now I'm here and it's the most important."
Mahrez could make his Premier League debut in City's opening game at Arsenal on Aug. 12.
($1 = 0.7559 pounds)
(Reporting By Arnab Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
