With the January transfer window just around the corner, it’s no surprise to see the number of reports surrounding an Islam Slimani exit rise, to the point that we’re now doing about one a day without really repeating ourselves.
Most of it appears to be coming out of Algeria, with Le Buteur and Compétition clearly knowing someone close to the Leicester City striker, as the latter of the two claim that there’s no turning back for him now: he will leave at some point over the next four weeks.
Slimani is said to have made the decision on Tuesday night when he was told by Claude Puel he wouldn’t be in the squad to face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, a fixture the Foxes lost on penalties following Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez misses.
According to the same article, the source stated Slimani has made it clear he wants to stay in England, something that has been circulating for a while now, and that only two clubs in France could make him change his mind: Marseille and Monaco.
With neither of those coming forward with an offer, his future most likely lies on this side of the Channel, with Watford or Newcastle the likeliest destinations.
Why? Because Compétition state the two Premier League clubs have already made ‘official’ offers, both loans.
While the Hornets’ interest makes a lot of sense, what with their struggles up front and Marco Silva at the helm, we’ve already made our surprise at Newcastle’s alleged interest clear, considering how vocal Rafa Benitez was about struggling to give Aleksandar Mitrovic game time as he didn’t suit his counter attacking philosophy.
Then again, there’s no denying that, given time on the pitch, Slimani is probably a lot better than his Serbian counterpart.
Compétition have gone very big here, and unless Leicester, for some unknown reason, stand in the way of the striker in January, this could very well be the end of him at King Power Stadium.
