It has been reported today that Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi and Leicester’s Islam Slimani will both be made available this January – with the Chronicle suggesting they could be players NUFC eye a loan move for after showing interest in the pair over the summer.
Whilst we may have a very tight budget for Benitez to work with next month, a striker is firmly at the top of our shopping list, and two potential loan option have emerged today.
Starting with Batshuayi, the Belgian was understood to be a loan target of Rafa’s over the summer, however Conte was unable to bring in another striker so understandably opted to keep him around the club.
A few months on and he’s started just five games in all competitions so far this season, and although though he has scored six goals in the process, it is reported today that he will be loaned out in January. Benitez is clearly an admirer, so this would be a real coup for the club if we were able to pull this off.
Slimani, who signed for Leicester for a whopping £30m last year, was left out of Puel’s squad for their trip to Tyneside on Saturday it’s now being claimed that he’ll look to ‘force’ a move to reignite his career.
Given his age (29) and the fact Leicester seem to recoup as much of the £30m they can, I don’t see a permanent deal being possible, but the Algerian could be another to add to our list of potential loan options.
