Riyad Mahrez has been abroad during his exile, Sportsmail can reveal, as Claude Puel pleaded with the Algerian to come back to Leicester.
Puel was unable to bring clarity to a number of details, with Mahrez's absence set to continue past a second weekend.
The Leicester manager confirmed Sportsmail's story from Wednesday that Mahrez will miss Saturday's match at Manchester City but declined to say: If he had spoken to his player since his absence began on January 30, whether he knows where the 26-year-old is or if he could put a date on a return.
'I hope he can come back and work hard with the team sooner rather than later.