Aston Villa have lined up a shock loan raid for Algerian hitman Islam Slimani despite the striker already on a temporary deal with Fenerbahce, according to Ajansspor.
The Turkish news outlet claim that the Villans have identified the 30-year-old forward as someone they want to add to their ranks this month, despite wages in the region of £80,000-a-week (source: Spotrac) and a poor record in England.
He has been a flop in the top flight, with eight goals in 39 appearances and he failed to find the back of the net once in his four outings for Newcastle United between January and the summer of 2018, while he has four goals in 20 appearances for Fenerbahce this season.
Good move for Villa?
Well this is as strange a rumour as the Villa faithful are likely to see this season. Slimani on wages along looks to be well out of the club’s reach and the fact that he is already on loan to another side makes this all the more shocking.
Villa do not exactly need a new striker with Tammy Abraham still at the club but with speculation over the English star maybe they are preparing themselves in case of an exit before the end of the month.
Simply put, Slimani’s record over the last couple of years is nothing to get the supporters excited about and while he might have the ability to thrive in the Championship, it is too much of a gamble to take.
This is Futbol rating: 4/10
Likely to happen?
Point one: £80,000-a-week wages.
Point two: On loan at Fenerbahce.
Point three: Abysmal record in England.
Result? No. Not in a million years.
This is Futbol rating: 0.5/10