Watford Hopes of Signing Leicester Striker Islam Slimani Over With Besiktas Now Favourites

Watford's hopes of signing Leicester striker Islam Slimani are over, according to a report in the Watford Observer.

The Hornets had been interested in the Algerian forward since the summer, but are not able to meet Leicester's demands.

The Foxes are determined to hold out for a significant portion of the £29m they paid for Slimani when he arrived from Sporting CP in the summer of 2016.

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The 29-year-old was left out of Claude Puel's squad for Saturday's 2-0 win over Watford, enhancing speculation that he is set for an imminent exit.

But he will not, according to the Watford Observer, be departing for Vicarage Road, and is instead likely to join Turkish club Besiktas.

There had been suggestions that Slimani would be keen to link up with his former coach Marco Silva, but the Portuguese was dismissed on Sunday morning.

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He is expected to be replaced by former Malaga boss Javi Graci, and it remains to be seen how the managerial overhaul will affect Watford's potential transfer dealings.

Silva had, a day before he was sacked, expressed his belief that his side were capable of playing with two strikers.

He said: "We can start with two up-front. We know it’s tough to play here, the match was balanced and there was plenty of respect between both teams.

"There was one transition where they won the second ball and Vardy won a penalty with a piece of quality.

"We reacted well when we had two strikers. Pereyra behind the striker didn’t give us what we wanted, so we changed it. It’s a possibility in the next game."