Leicester City’s forgotten man Islam Slimani will not be joining Nimes this summer with Le10 Sport reporting that a deal for the £80,000-a-week striker is ‘financially impossible’.
With just 12 months remaining on their contracts, it seems that the future of two former Sporting Lisbon stars lie away from the King Power Stadium.
Slimani and Adrien Silva recently returned from impressive loan spells at Monaco, though it would be a major surprise if either the Algerian targetman or the Portuguese playmaker represent the 2016 Premier League champions ever again.
FootMercato reported on Tuesday that Leicester are willing to sell Slimani for £10 million – meaning they will accept a £20 million loss on a player who became their record signing when he arrived in the Midlands four years ago.
So far, there are two Ligue 1 clubs expressing an interest – Marseille and Nimes.
But, as you might expect, one of the smaller clubs in France’s top flight simply don’t have the financial muscle to lure Slimani to their modest 18,000 capacity stadium.
Nimes finished 17th in 2019/20, avoiding relegation after the season was decided on a points-per-game basis.
Marseille, in stark contrast, secured a runners-up spot behind PSG and will be playing Champions League football for the first time in seven years soon.
That does not mean, however, that L’OM can afford to sign the 30-year-old Slimani either.
Until a proposed Middle Eastern takeover goes through, Marseille are under pressure to raise up to £100 million via player sales, according to Le10 Sport in May.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
