LEICESTER’S RECORD SPLASH ON SLIMANI

LEICESTER CITY last night sealed a club record £29.7million deal for Sporting Lisbon’s Algerian striker Islam Slimani. But a £19m move for his Sporting team-mate, midfielder Adrien Silva, fell through. Leicester will be pleased with their transfer business however, and the signing of Slimani represents a significant moment for the Premier League champions. His fee easily tops the £18m paid for striker Ahmed Musa, who has joined from CSKA Moscow. After days of haggling, Sporting accepted Leicester’s offer for Slimani and he was allowed to leave Algeria’s training base in Algiers to be flown by private jet to Rome and then on to Bologna so he could complete his medical and personal terms. The location was used as a halfway house between north Africa and England. Slimani had earlier been training with Riyad Mahrez, who has helped Leicester pull off the transfer by convincing his international team-mate to join. The PFA Player of the Year, Mahrez, is understood to have told his Leicester team-mates of the 28-year-old’s quality. Slimani scored in Sporting’s Champions League campaign two seasons ago and in three years for the club he found the net 57 times in 109 games. In 43 appearances for Algeria he has scored 23 goals and starred at the 2014 World Cup. Leicester also tried to get the deal done for Silva but Sporting’s stubbornness over the price meant the move collapsed.