‘My priority is to stay there’: Islam Slimani on his Leicester City future

Islam Slimani’s time at Leicester City isn’t over just yet as the out-of-favour striker is looking to stay at the club this season.

We had all been thinking his time in the East Midlands was up and, honestly, some of us had also forgotten that he existed.

But he has served a timely reminder to all the Leicester faithful, not just of his existence but the fact that he still is a Fox and wants it to be that way in the upcoming season.

Speaking to DZ Foot, he said:

"“Regarding my future; I am, for the moment, in Leicester. We will see what happens next.“I still have two years on my contract. Now, the most important thing is to go back to Leicester.“My priority is to stay there, it’s the best championship in the world.”"

The Algerian was sent out on loan to Fenerbahce last season, with many hoping for the spell to help him rediscover his form.

However, he only made 25 appearances in all competitions and got just five goals. It wasn’t a far cry from his time at Leicester.

He scored just 13 times in 46 appearances for the Foxes following his move his £28 million move in 2016 – a club record – a return that made former manager Claude Puel loan him out to Newcastle United.

It got even worse for him with the Toons, as he missed ten fixtures in total – seven because of a thigh injury and three because of a suspension.

In the four games he played in, his only meaningful contribution was an assist against Arsenal.

How times change. When Slimani was signed from Sporting CP, he was expected to form a formidable partnership with Jamie Vardy, but he just couldn’t find that same goalscoring prowess from his days in Portugal. He probably won’t at the age of 31.

It’s highly unlikely that Brendan Rodgers will want him at the club either, so even if the club have to take a loss on him – which is inevitable now – they must sell him for whatever they get. It suits both him and Leicester.