While a lot of the attention at Leicester City has been placed around the potential exit of Riyad Mahrez, little has been said about other players on the fringe of Craig Shakespeare’s squad, which includes Islam Slimani.
The manager’s decision to start Shinji Okazaki alongside Jamie Vardy last Friday against Arsenal said a lot about where the club’s record signing stands in the pecking order these days, and a departure could be on the cards.
Not exactly short of suitors in the Premier League, the Algeria international is apparently a very important target for Marco Silva, with Le Buteur back in the player’s home country claiming Watford have made a ‘concrete’ bid for the 29-year-old.
With six strikers currently on the books for a starting role at the King Power Stadium, it wouldn’t be a surprise if one or two were to leave the club before the end of the transfer window.
Logic would have it that Ahmed Musa and Leonardo Ulloa would both be ahead of Slimani in that department, but if the right offer were to arrive for the Algerian, such an opportunity could be too good to refuse.
For now, however, Le Buteur state Crag Shakespeare is a bit reluctant to see him leave, and Leicester are being ‘inflexible’ on the matter.
Down Watford’s end, Marco Silva is said to be very keen on teaming up with Slimani once again, having managed him at Sporting CP.
However, considering the Hornets have recently signed both Richarlison and Andre Gray to help out Troy Deeney and Stefano Okaka, is another striker really a necessity at Vicarage Road?
