Leicester end pursuit of potential Jamie Vardy replacement, Sporting Lisbon’s Islam Slimani

LEICESTER have reportedly pulled out of the race to sign Sporting Lisbon hot-shot Islam Slimani.

The Premier League champions are refusing to meet the £24million release clause, according to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo.

The Foxes had lined up the Algerian ace as a potential replacement for Jamie Vardy, should the title-winning star move to Arsenal.

And boss Claudio Ranieri has already had a £16m bid rejected for a player who has also impressed on international duty alongside Leicester’s current Algerian star, Riyad Mahrez.

Slimani has scored 23 times in 43 games for his country.

He also scored 27 goals in 33 appearances in a prolific Primeira Liga campaign last season.

Sporting’s manager Jorge Jesus even talked up Slimani’s suitability for the Premier League and boasted he could score ‘double’ the goals of Vardy next season.

However, the Portuguese club now appear to be playing hard ball with their star man and are holding out for someone to meet the clause, which Jesus insists is ‘nothing’ for a player of the 27-year-old’s quality.

Slimani was said to have asked Sporting to let him leave the club, according to reports in the Portuguese newspaper Record.

And with the Foxes now seemingly out of the running, Arsenal could enter the race for him as Vardy continues to ponder a move to the Emirates.