Arsenal join chase for West Ham target Slimani
Arsenal have joined Tottenham, Everton, Leicester, West Ham, Roma, Lazio and Atletico Madrid in the race to sign Sporting Lisbon striker Islam Slimani this summer.
According to French source Maxifoot, the Gunners, after being snubbed by Jamie Vardy who has decided to pen a new four-year deal with Premier League champions Leicester, have turned their attentions to the Algerian striker who is being tracked by a number of European sides.
The 28-year-old is coming off the best goalscoring season of his career after he netted 27 goals in 33 Liga NOS games for Sporting last season, and 31 in all competitions.
Slimani is also very prolific at international level, scoring 23 goals in 43 appearances for the Algerian national team – he fits the bill for the 20-goal-a-season striker the Hammers are looking for.
He is tied down to the Portuguese side until the summer of 2020 but has a release clause of €30m which would be a new club-record signing for the Hammers should they bring in Slimani, but it’s not a fee the club would be unable to pay considering the offers being muted for Michy Batshuayi and Alexandre Lacazette.
Should the Hammers fail in bids for the above strikers, don’t be shocked to see them make their interest in Slimani more significant.