Leicester City are close to agreeing a deal to sign Islam Slimani from Sporting Lisbon, with the club hopeful of finalising a record fee worth close to £30m for the Algeria striker.
The Premier League champions have been searching for reinforcements in readiness for their debut season in the Champions League and have identified the 28-year-old as their choice to add competition up front. Slimani scored 27 times in the Portuguese league last season as Sporting finished as runners-up behind Benfica and has also won 43 caps for his country, scoring 23 goals.
Leicester have seen an initial bid of around £25m rejected, with Sporting understood to be holding out for a fee closer to £34m (€40m). Negotiations are ongoing, with Slimani still expected to feature in Sunday night’s match against FC Porto.
West Bromwich have also had a bid rejected in the past week, although it is believed that the Algiers-born player favours a move to the King Power Stadium to link up with his international team-mate Riyad Mahrez.
Having already added the Nigeria forward Ahmed Musa in the summer, Leicester have been in the market for another striker for some time and also inquired after the Argentinian Guido Carillo of Monaco. But they are now confident of signing Slimani, who moved to Portugal in 2013 from the Algerian side CR Belouizdad and scored twice for his country at the 2014 World Cup.
