Islam Slimani has struggled for opportunities at Leicester City but things could have been different had he chosen Everton or West Brom.
With the curtain falling on his debut season in English football, it is fair to say Islam Slimani has not quite lived up to expectations. Certainly when you consider that Leicester City splashed out a club-record £30 million to sign the Algerian from Sporting Lisbon, as reported by The Guardian.
A regular starter initially under Claudio Ranieri at the King Power Stadium, Slimani slipped down the pecking order rapidly once Leicester’s title defence transformed into a nightmarish relegation battle.
And since Craig Shakespeare replaced the affable Italian at the helm, the 28-year-old has become even more of a peripheral figure. In total, Slimani has started just 12 times in the Premier League this season, netting seven goals as his style continues to jar with the Foxes’ quick, counter-attacking strategy.
However, that is not to say he would have proved equally disappointing at Everton or West Brom. According to The Sun, the Baggies bid a club record £21 million bid for Slimani last summer while Everton also made their interest known.
At the time, paying such a huge fee appeared to make sense. Slimani had, after all, netted 31 goals in 44 appearances last season for Sporting. Yet, perhaps he will wish he had chosen Goodison or The Hawthorns over the King Power.
Fox in the box
While he falls to arguably fourth choice in Shakespeare’s pecking order, he could have found opportunities easier to come by at Everton as an understudy for Romelu Lukaku. With manager Ronald Koeman discarding Oumar Niasse and Arouna Kone immediately, Slimani could have at least taken the pressure of the Belgian battering ram.
Furthermore, renowned for his fantastic aerial ability, the Algerian, who has netted one in two for his country, could have thrived under Tony Pulis’ direct tactics at West Brom. The Baggies rely upon crosses and set pieces for goals, meaning they would surely have played more to Slimani’s strengths than Leicester.
Slimani at Leicester, however, just seems a bad fit for either party.
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