Islam Slimani is still at Leicester City after failing to get a move away from the King Power Stadium in the summer.
The striker’s former club, Sporting, were interested in bringing him back to the club during the last window, but the deal collapsed due to the 32-year-old’s wages.
He’s been restricted to only 19 minutes of action this season, but that’s not stopped the Algeria international from being linked to other clubs.
Earlier this week, L’Equipe reported Saint-Étienne have set their sights on the striker as their manager, Claude Puel, has previously worked with the player at the Premier League club.
It was also stated Slimani’s salary could be an issue for the Ligue 1 side to complete his transfer.
Le10 Sport states ‘conditions are set’ for Puel’s side to ‘have a chance’ of signing Brendan Rodgers’ man in January.
As per the report, Leicester have made the frontman available on the market and even if Saint-Étienne have a ‘sporting interest’ in the player, signing him seems ‘difficult’ due to their financial situation.
Despite earning in excess of €30m from Wesley Fofana’s sale to Leicester, the French club still need to raise €20m before the end of the season and they can do that by selling players.
In other words, before evening considering to make an attempt to sign Slimani, even on a loan deal, Saint-Étienne will have a ‘very clear objective to fulfil’, which is to ‘balance the books’.
