NEWCASTLE UNITED are homing in on Leicester City’s record signing Islam Slimani.
It seems the Toon are ready to break their transfer record with a £20million bid for the Algerian international.
The highest the Magpies have ever forked out is the £16m they paid for Michael Owen in 2005.
Slimani cost Leicester £26m from Sporting Lisbon in 2016 but can’t wrestle a first-team place from anyone for love or money.
The Mirror report that Rafa Benitez’s scouting team have watched him and are keen to take him to the North-East.
If Newcastle can pull off a deal it would at least show boss Benitez that owner Mike Ashley is as good as his word when it comes to January backing.
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Benitez has made it clear that signings – not his own future – is his priority and the Magpies are hoping to have at least one signing in the bag for the trip to Chelsea this weekend.
It does seem likely that Benitez is ready to let existing players go, though.
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West Ham are interested in striker Aleksandar Mitrovic and midfield team-mate Jonjo Shelvey.
United can make two Premier League loans and bring in a third loanee from abroad.
Sandro Ramirez, the Everton forward, comes into this category after Newcastle tried to sign him in the summer.
Incidentally, no team in the Premier League has a more long-standing transfer record than the Toon.
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United’s transfer record has stood for longer than a decade – almost double the length of time the next longest transfer record has stood for.
It’s been 13 long years since the Magpies paid Real Madrid £16million to sign Owen.
That was an awful lot of money then, but it’s still surprising that the figure hasn’t been surpassed.
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