Leicester City will wish West Brom won £27.9m transfer race: View | OneFootball

Now, we’ve all made some wild purchases when we’ve come into a bit of money, but Islam Slimani’s move to Leicester City was certainly not a well-thought-out manoeuvre in the summer of 2016.

The Foxes were riding high after shocking the nation to win the Premier League title, and there may still have been some a celebratory mood in the air when a fair chunk of their winnings was spent on bringing the Algerian striker to the King Power Stadium.

The then-28-year-old’s stock was high after an astonishing record of 48 goals in 82 league games for Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, but the striker struggled to rediscover that form in the English game; having barely found double-figures while a City player.

With fellow top flight side West Bromwich Albion also in contention to sign the forward during that summer, Leicester will want to erase the memory of Slimani’s arrival during a summer of celebrations, with a fee close to £30 million never to be seen again.

Islam Slimani joins Premier League champions Leicester City

Slimani’s arrival at the King Power Stadium would have been highly regarded at the time, with the Algerian finding the net on a regular basis in the Primeira Liga, as well as helping his country to the last 16 of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil; scoring twice in the process.

With plenty of clamour over who was to get their hands on the attacking talent, the Foxes utilised their newfound player-attracting clout to give themselves the edge over the Baggies, with the lure of European football sweetening the deal.

Flying over to England as the club’s record signing at the time, there was plenty of pressure on the forward’s shoulder as he started out for his new side, with expectations through the roof following their miraculous title win in the season before.

Foxes fans were soon brought back to Earth with a bump in the following campaign, with the challenges of defending their title while competing on the continental stage proving to be too much to handle for the reigning Premier League champions.

Slimani felt the full brunt of the tough reality check after failing to follow up his debut brace against Burnley, with only a further two goals to his name before Christmas highlighting the hangover looming over the Foxes.

Nine goals in all competitions wasn’t quite what was expected of the new City striker; as his side could only muster a 12th-placed finish with his playing style seemingly unsuited to Claudi Ranieri’s gameplan before the Italian got the boot in the second-half of the campaign.

A meagre 12 top flight appearances followed the next season as Foxes fans began to see Slimani as a busted flush; with his big price tag looming heavily over his head and weighing him down.

A solitary strike against relegation-threaten Huddersfield before the January transfer window turned out to be his last for the club before he ended the season with a temporary spell at Newcastle United.

Islami Slimani Newcastle United, Fenerbahce, Monaco loan deals

Even the spell on Tyneside was trouble for the Algerian, with an off-the-ball incident against West Brom leading to a three-match suspension; and likely leaving Baggies fans breathing a sigh of relief that their club didn’t pay the big bucks to lure him to the Hawthorns when they had the chance.

The signs were there for all to see that both club and player wanted to part ways during the summer of 2018, and seemingly no sooner had Slimani arrived on these shores had he jetted off again, with Fenerbahce his intended destination.

A single goal during his temporary Turkey spell underlined his troubles during that period of his career, before rediscovering his form with nine goals in 18 games for Monaco in the following campaign.

The Algerian had become the forgotten man at the King Power Stadium, and was a shock inclusion in a Foxes squad in 2020 - some 1000 days after his last match for City - as he came off the bench to feature against Aston Villa in what would turn out to be his final appearance for the club.

A move to Lyon soon followed, leaving everyone to breathe a sigh of relief that the chapter had been put to bed, with netter club nor player benefitting from the high-profile move.

With Leicester finding themselves in reported financial difficulties at the minute, it will be transfer deals such as this one that they will look back in with regret, with no return from their huge investment, with Slimani moving to France for pittance.

From Lyon to Stade Brest, Anderlecht and Cortiba of Brazil; the Algerian has turned his career into a globetrotting adventure in recent years, with his air miles racking up once again earlier this month as he returned to Belgium to turn out for Mechelen in the Jupiler League.

It’s been a similar story of decline for the Foxes of late, with last season’s relegation from the Premier League highlighting their fall from grace after their fairytale story of 15/16.

The former Sporting Lisbon man’s goals and presence at the top of the field may have been useful for a side battling at the bottom of the league - West Brom for example - but for a side looking to push on at the top of the table he failed to deliver, and outstayed his welcome once his services weren’t required.