Tottenham Hotspur seemingly won’t be signing Islam Slimani.
According to Foot Mercato, Tottenham Hotspur have decided that the €2.5million (£2.1million) compensation they would need to pay to Monaco for Islam Slimani is too much.
It’s claimed that Monaco want that fee to cancel their loan deal with the Algerian striker, freeing him up for a deadline day move to Spurs.
However, Tottenham have allegedly decided that the £2.1million is ‘too high’, and look set to move on to other targets barring a change of heart today.
Given that they would have to pay a loan fee to parent club Leicester City, and likely pay all of his wages, adding another £2.1million into the total was seemingly enough for Spurs to back away.
There’s time for Spurs to think again if they can’t land another target, such as Olivier Giroud, but it currently seems like Slimani won’t be heading to North London.
The 31-year-old has actually posted impressive numbers with Monaco, racking up seven goals and seven assists in 13 Ligue 1 games this season, even though he has fallen slightly out of favour under Robert Moreno.
Slimani would fit as the centre forward Joes Mourinho wants, as he can lead the line well, possessing great aerial ability and predatory instincts, which he’s now showing at Monaco having struggled at Leicester.
With Harry Kane out until April, a short-term deal for an experienced target man like Slimani seems to be ideal for Spurs, but the additional costs have seemingly forced them to look elsewhere – and if they end up with nobody, fans may wonder why they quibbled over an extra couple of million pounds.
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