There is alot of talk that Islam Slimani will return to Sporting Lisbon on loan He hasnt settled and if he does go it wont be the biggest loss in the world other then finacially. If he goes it may mean Leonardo Ulloa still has a future here
I think a lot of people need to realise a few things with Slim; He doesn't (or didn't) know the language. He hasn't had a pre-season. He's had a lot of injury troubles. He didn't pay the money we paid for him. He's had to play the Shinji role under Ranieri.
Personally I think next season is the time to judge him. I dont think he would be a huge loss and I dont see us changing our style to get the best out of him and I dont see him taking over Vardy's spot
Well if we are buying Iheanacho for £25M, it won't be to sit on the bench so someone has to leave. Haven't seen anything about a loan move but have read that Lisbon are willing to offer £13M for him - as we rejected £32.5M last year, it will be laughed at http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/l...rting-lisbon/story-30363925-detail/story.html More likely will end up at West Ham who are willing to spend £35M+
I don't believe this rumour because I don't think we'll be interested in letting our one genuine aerial threat leave when we only have Ulloa. Slimani is quality but he's a no.9, just like Vardy and Ilheanacho. We need Sigurdsson to play the no.10 role, not Slimani or Ilheanacho.
That is one of the reasons why I find this rumour a bit credible. With Iheanacho, we will have 3 players competing for the same position - Iheanacho wants to move because he is 3rd choice at Man City so why would he come to be 3rd choice here? Unless the rumours of Vardy to Athletico have merit...
Atletico have a transfer embargo. They cannot sign anybody til January, and Diego Costa has made it clear he wants to return there. Vardy will NOT be going there.
The thing is Ilheanacho is a replacement/back up for Vardy with the idea of him taking Vardy's place eventually but Slimani gives us a different dimension when pace isn't working or for games where it would be better to play him as the main striker and get balls into the box so we approach the game differently. Slimani is quality and we need to have strikers with different attributes to give us more options.
Still is 3 players for 1 position - Iheanacho has said that the main reason he wants to move is because of lack of opportunity at Man City. All of the rumours of Ulloa leaving have dried up as well - as he can play both #9 and #10 roles, I can see him staying and Slimani leaving. Am not saying that this is a good thing - I like Slimani and it is really annoying that he didn't get an extending run in the side with us playing to his strengths but out of the players that we have, he does seem the most likely to leave, most likely on loan as we won't accept the pittance that has been offered for him.
I dont think Iheanacho is a replacement for Slimani. More for Musa I thini if Slimani goes it give Ulloa another chance
I don't think we should be giving Ulloa another chance, especially not when we have arguably the best headerer of the ball in the league if not further afield. I don't know of anyone with anywhere close to the amount of goals he's scored with his head. We need to be able to rotate and switch things up so having Ilheanacho as a like for like for Vardy takes the pressure off him because it means we can rotate while still playing the same way. Having Slimani means we can change our attack when Vardy/Ilheanacho isn't working or if it would be better suited for a particular match. Slimani will score plenty of goals if he's given the service and we play to his strengths. He's not a hold it up type of striker, as you might expect from a big man, he plays on the shoulder and his movement and anticipation of where the ball will be delivered in the box is superb. He makes most of his headers look easy but it's the movement beforehand that gets him in the right positon that allows it to be easy for him. People don't appreciate his ability but I'm convinced Shakey does and that's what matters. We're aiming to qualify for Europe next season so we're going to need a squad capable of competing on all fronts so everyone is going to get plenty of games.
Id rather keep Slimani than Ulloa, though neither are probably happy playing second fiddle to Vardy in a side that doesn't play to their strengths.
This is the crux of it - really annoying that we never saw Slimani and Ulloa on the pitch at the same time with Mahrez, Albrighton and Fuch firing in crosses...
What was also annoying was the amount of times Albrighton was substituted when Slimani was on the pitch, they were rarely on the pitch at the same time which was ridiculous. Plus when he's on the pitch you want Albrighton on the right so he can whip in early balls not on the left where he has to cut back. It really annoys me that so many managers at every level just play players in positions to make do rather than to get the best out of them and teams and style of play need to be focused on the strengths on the main goal scorer. This is why Bony and Benteke worked at Swansea and Villa but not City and Liverpool. We're doing the same with Slimani.
