Arsenal aim to beat Leicester to ‘Jamie Vardy replacement’ Islam Slimani

ARSENAL will move for Islam Slimani as Jamie Vardy continues to ponder a move to the Emirates.

The Gunners triggered the Leicester star’s £20million release clause last week after his incredible 24-goal season for the champions.

And Arsene Wenger is waiting to discover whether the England star will decide to move to North London after Euro 2016.

The Foxes had lined up Slimani as a potential replacement for their title-winning hero – with boss Claudio Ranieri having a £20m bid rejected on Sunday.

But, with Vardy looking increasingly likely to elect to stay at the King Power, the Gunners are ready to switch their attention to the Sporting Lisbon star instead.

The Algerian has a £23.5m buyout fee in his deal with the Portuguese side.

And boss Jorge Jesus is not willing to let the striker – who he claims will score twice as many as Vardy in the Prem – depart for any less.

Leicester are not believed to be willing to budge on their initial offer until Vardy’s future is decided.

But, according to Portuguese paper O Jogo, Wenger will offer the full amount to beat the Foxes to the 27-year-old.

The Frenchman will launch a megabucks recruitment drive this summer after watching Arsenal’s limp title challenge last season.

He has already landed £30m midfielder Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach and is eyeing £25m Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund.

But a striker is believed to be top of the Emirates wishlist after main man Olivier Giroud netted just 16 league goals last term.

Slimani netter 27 times Sporting lost out to city rivals Benfica on the final day of the Primeira Liga season.