West Bromwich Albion wanted to sign Leicester City striker Islam Slimani before his move to the Premier League champions.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis
A report in the Birmingham Mail has suggested that West Brom are still keen admirers of Leicester City striker Islam Slimani, one year after the Baggies made a £21 million bid for the Algerian.
Slimani went into last summer having established himself as one of the most impressive strikers playing in Europe at that time, having scored 27 goals in 33 league games for Sporting Lisbon.
Unsurprisingly therefore, he was on some Premier League clubs’ radars with the Mail reporting that West Brom made the eight-figure offer before Leicester ended up winning the race for his signature in a £30 million deal.
Despite missing out a year ago however, the Mail adds that West Brom are still keeping a keen eye on Slimani, and may actually be preparing a fresh bid for the forward, who has arguably endured a mixed year with the Foxes.
Slimani has scored seven times in 19 top flight clashes, but has started just 12 times in the Premier League with Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy often preferred as the starting strike-partnership.
Leicester City’s Islam Slimani celebrates scoring
With Salomon Rondon and Hal Robson-Kanu both struggling to be the kind of strikers that Tony Pulis simply cannot drop, it would hardly be a surprise if the Baggies planned to target a new goalscorer this summer as they look to build upon what has been a promising year.
And they may perhaps be hoping that with some more games under his belt, Slimani could vindicate the Baggies’ long-term interest should they pursue a big-money deal.
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