Islam Slimani has undergone a woeful season in the Premier League. At first, he spent the first 6 months of the campaign making sporadic appearances for Leicester City and later an unfortunate injury kept him out of Newcastle United’s regular games. It seemed like frustration had taken over the mind of the 29-year-old, who, in unsportsmanlike fashion, stuck out a leg towards West Brom defender, Craig Dawson in the 1-0 loss earlier this month. And now he is set to finish the season on a low due to a suspension from the FA.
A surplus to requirements at King Power Stadium and an unwanted visitor at the Tyneside, it makes his departure from Leicester almost guaranteed at this point. Slimani wants more regular involvement and West Ham United seem to have picked up on the scent.
David Moyes is looking to bolster the Hammers squad ahead of the 2018/19 campaign to place an improved performance in the league. The team looked to be in trouble earlier in the campaign, festering in the relegation scraps under the then-manager Slaven Bilic. It took a lot of work from Moyes to guide the team back to safety with just two signings in the January window.
A similar turnaround might not be achieved if the Hammers start off their 2018/19 campaign poorly. The team needs some restructuring, especially in the midfield and offensive roles.
Currently, the attacking lineup mostly features Marko Arnautovic, Andy Carroll and Javier Chicharito Hernandez with former Preston North End strike, Jordan Hugill as a backup.
Arnautovic remains their star man in attack but Carroll and Hernandez have struggled to replicate their scoring run from the distant past. The Austrian can always be shifted around to the more wide areas with Slimani filling in as the starting number nine.
The Algerian knows a thing or two about scoring goals and he will be looking to bring that scoring pedigree to the London Stadium. After all, the owners want nothing more than to appease the fans after the distasteful reception they received in the 0-3 loss to Burnley earlier in the year.
Announcing the permanent signing of quality players like Slimani will go a long way in ensuring the fans of their future ambitions. West Ham might not have been a challenger for the league title or for one of the European qualification spots in England’s top flight but they have always been one of the mid-table clubs the elites have trouble going past.
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It would be ideal to return to those standards and Slimani will certainly help in those aspirations.
