Slim hopes for deal for City striker
LEICESTER City will reportedly demand in excess of £17.5m for Islam Slimani this summer – ending any slim hopes the striker may have had about returning to Newcastle United.
Rafa Benitez always intended to recruit an alternative frontline forward following Slimani’s unhappy spell on Tyneside, and this news has only confirmed that Newcastle will not make a permanent offer to the Foxes for the Algeria international’s services.
The 29-year-old opted to return to the East Midlands during the final week of the season after Benitez gave Slimani the chance to depart Tyneside early, once the forward was handed a retrospective three-match ban for kicking out at West Bromwich Albion defender Craig Dawson – making him unavailable for United’s three games.
After being sidelined for the first two months of his loan spell due to a persistent thigh problem, Slimani played just 131 competitive minutes for Newcastle – and made only one start – and did not score or provide an assist, though he did play a key role in two crucial goals for the Magpies.
However, Le Buteur reports that Leicester are hoping to recoup at least €20m (£17.5m) for the striker this summer, a figure far beyond what Newcastle would consider paying for him.
But Benitez’s scouting department have been tracking a number of other striker targets over the last six months and, given that Slimani was a lastresort option in January anyway, his disappointing loan spell has not convinced United he should be signed permanently.
Signing a “quality” striker, as Benitez himself termed it, is the No 1 priority for Newcastle in the transfer market over the coming months.
Mainz’s Yoshinori Muto, Hannover’s Niclas Fullkrug, Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric and Bas Dost – who is perennially linked with Newcastle – have all been mentioned as targets in recent weeks, while there remains a long-term interest in Feyenoord’s Nicolai Jorgensen.
It is understood that Benitez has a list of more than 50 strikers he will sift through, however, covering several different price ranges, and he will narrow that down once a final budget is agreed with the Newcastle hierarchy.