A former manager at Paris Saint-Germain, Athletic Bilbao and Real Betis (among others), Luís Fernandez, now a pundit on beIN Sports, knows his way around the world of football.
That’s why it isn’t too surprising to see websites turn to him if they want a cultivated opinion about players, as his job is to analyse performances using his past experience.
This is why Compétition in Algeria asked him some questions about some of their national team stars, which includes Leicester City’s Islam Slimani.
The striker has only been used once so far by Brendan Rodgers, which is a clear indicator his time at King Power Stadium is all but up, and yet the Foxes are struggling to offload him.
Numerous clubs have reportedly been interested, but the reluctance from Leicester City to simply let him go on top of his demanding wages have scuppered potential transfers more than once.
Fernandez explained the situation: “It’s simple. Contractually, Slimani remains Leicester’s property. There’s a tug of war between the two parties: on one side, Leicester are trying to get some of their money back, and on the other, Slimani wants to play more.
“At Monaco, he had an excellent partnership with Wissam Ben Yedder. Technically, he isn’t that bad, and he brings power as well, but the problem is each party wants to privilege their interests”.
As for whether running down his contract is a risk, he added: “Absolutely. At the top level, it’ll be really hard to catch up after a year without playing. There might even be few clubs interested in him. In this affair, whether it’s him or Leicester, they’ll both be losers”.
