Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a move for Leicester City’s striker Islam Slimani. Slimani is currently on loan with Ligue 1 outfit Monaco where he has impressed for them. Reports from Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna reveals that Monaco are demanding €2.5m as compensation fee to cut short Slimani’s loan spell to allow him to join Tottenham. However, the decision-makers at Spurs as of now are not willing to pay that kind of fee to sign the striker.
Expected from Spurs to go after a striker
It is not surprising to see Jose Mourinho searching in the market to sign a striker with Harry Kane out with injury. They have been linked with plenty of forwards this month, but they are no closer to signing anyone yet. Now Spurs are facing another roadblock in signing Slimani.
Slimani impressed in the first half of the season as the Algerian centre forward has bagged seven goals and seven assists in 14 appearances for Monaco so far. However, he has seemingly fallen out of favour under the new management. Nevertheless, Monaco doesn’t want to let him leave midway through the season without getting a compensation fee.
Spurs were heavily interested (Daily Mail) in signing Krzysztof Piatek, but he has made the switch to Hertha Berlin now. With time running out in the transfer window, it seems like Spurs are getting desperate to bring in a new face up front.
Should Spurs go after Slimani?
Slimani has been on the books with Leicester City since 2016, but he has made only 46 appearances for them in all competitions. The Foxes had also sent him on loan to Newcastle United in 2018, but the striker failed to establish himself there as well. The 31-year-old is an experienced player at the national level as he has 69 appearances for Algeria.
He has indeed been in good form for Monaco this season, but Spurs should have bigger ambitions than him if they want to get into the top four. Slimani was behind the pecking order to Kelechi Iheanacho at Leicester, and the Foxes didn’t mind to send him away on loan to Monaco in the summer. The striker has got enough opportunities at the Premier League level, and he hasn’t done anything significant.
Hence, we believe that Spurs should give Slimani a miss in this window. Signing him in the last few days would seem like a panic buy and the north London club signing a striker just for the sake of it. Slimani can be a decent targetman on his day, but Spurs surely need to show more ambition here than signing a striker who has been a failure at Leicester.
