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Arsenal eyeing £23m move for 31-goal international striker

By on May 24, 2016

The Mirror are reporting that Arsenal are among the clubs showing a keen interest in signing Sporting Lisbon’s £23m-rated striker Islam Slimani this summer.

Arsene Wenger has already hinted that he’ll look to bring in another striker after losing Danny Welbeck for the majority of next season due to a serious knee injury.

Alvaro Morata has been strongly linked with a move to the Emirates with Spanish outlet AS reporting yesterday that we’re in pole position to sign the 23-year-old hitman.

However, it looks as though Wenger is lining-up alternative targets in-case we miss out on the Spanish international as the Mirror are carrying a report that suggests we’re interested in signing Sporting Lisbon hitman Islam Slimani.

The Algerian international has just come off the back of a sensational campaign that saw him score 31 goals and provide 6 assists in 46 appearances to help guide Lisbon to a second  placed finish in the Primeira Liga behind eventual champions Benfica.

That form has supposedly attracted interest from Arsenal but the newspaper suggests that we’ll have to pay the 27-year-old’s £23.25m (€30m) buyout clause if we’re to lure him away from Portugal this summer.

Sporting head coach Jorge Jesus is quoted by the Mirror as saying:

“I would like for Slimani to stay. This area is for the president. The coach also has a say, and [the Sporting president] knows my opinion.

“At present, 30 million for a player like Slimani is nothing.”

True, £23.25m for a striker who scores 31 goals a season is nothing in today’s market, but can Slimani replicate that sort of form in the Premier League?

It’s easy to get carried away with the number of goals a player scores in weak league’s like the Portuguese Primeira Liga but many struggle when they come to England, so Slimani would still be a gamble.