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Everton’s Cenk Tosun buy could speed up Leicester’s Slimani sale

By Jack Mceachen

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 01: Islam Slimani of Leicester City celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Huddersfield Town at The King Power Stadium on January 1, 2018 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 01: Islam Slimani of Leicester City celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Huddersfield Town at The King Power Stadium on January 1, 2018 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images) /
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As Everton are set to spend a reported £27 million on Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun, the Turkish side are in the market for a replacement and Islam Slimani has been linked with a move to the Süper Lig.

Besiktas president Fikret Orman has been in England to negotiate the sale of Tosun but is also expected to travel south of Everton in order to seal a deal for their replacement.

Slimani has been linked with a move away from the King Power Stadium, having fallen down the pecking order and has only made two starts this season.

Tosun’s move to Everton appears close to completion, as manager Sam Allardyce said in a press conference:

"“It is just personal terms now, the final stage,” the manager claimed. “After long negotiations we are nearly there. He might even be registered before the FA Cup but securing the player is the most important thing because a lack of goals has been our biggest area of concern, and before I got here. With his pedigree and his age – we’ve not got many players in that elite age group in our squad – hopefully he will show he is good value for money.“If we get the transfer done and he comes and scores goals, it will be exceptional business. The club has searched high and low for a striker for a long time, since before I got here, and he was the one we focused on. He wants to come here.”"

According to Turkish news outlet NtvSpor, Besiktas’ transfer committee has already sounded out the 29-year-old Leicester striker as Tosun’s replacement.

NvtSpor say that Besiktas have offered a €2m loan fee to Leicester City to take Slimani until the end of the season.

However, the Foxes may want to offload Slimani on a permanent deal, and have reported suitors in Newcastle and Watford.

Leicester spent £27 million on the Algerian forward just 18 months ago and will be looking to recuperate as much of that fee as possible, which could rule out a loan deal.

Slimani would be 30 when he returns to Leicester at the end of the season, which does tend to put off potential buyers despite possible good performances in Turkey.

Slimani did score in the 3-0 win over Huddersfield, prompting manager Claude Puel to praise his attitude. Puel said:

"“I am happy of the game of Slim, he had a good game, showed his quality, and he scored a fantastic goal.“He has kept a positive attitude in the training session and he got his reward today with his goal, but also he played good football.“It was amazing to see him at this level and with this quality and positive outlook.”"

It will be interesting to see whether Slimani features in Leicester’s FA Cup third round tie with Fleetwood Town on Saturday.

There is a chance that Puel will rotate his lineup following the busy winter schedule, as Adrien Silva could make his first start since finally joining the Foxes when the January transfer window opens.

Next: Leicester City targeting Augsburg full-back Daniel Opare

A start for Slimani away in Highbury could indicate that he is still in the manager’s plans, but the striker knows he does have to compete with Jamie Vardy, Shinji Okazaki, Kelechi Iheanacho, Leonardo Ulloa and Ahmed Musa.

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