Leicester City’s Islam Slimani impressed in the first few months of his loan spell at AS Monaco as the striker managed seven goals and seven assists in Ligue 1 this season.
However, he lost his prominence at the French club and wanted to leave in the winter market.
The Foxes owned player was a January target for Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Inter Milan, but no club acquired his services.
Journalist Fabrizio Romano provides an update about the Serie A club’s pursuit of the Algeria international for Calciomercato.
He claims the Nerazzurri were hunting for a new attacker as a backup for Romelu Lukaku in the last two days of the recently concluded window and Antonio Conte’s side had set their sights on Slimani.
There’s no explanation about what ‘detail’ made the ‘operation fail’, but a French agent told Compétition in Algeria that Leicester’s demands were deemed excessive.
“At first, Leicester were asking for €2.5m and Monaco €4.5m (to cut the deal short), so a total of €7m. Sorry, but no club is going to spend that money for a six month loan,” a French agent explained.
“On Thursday, after realising the amount would put off any club, the two parties agreed for a new amount of €5m when they learned Inter came knocking for Slimani. On Thursday, we actually thought a transfer would be done, but there was never an offer from the Milan club.”
