Islam Slimani set to go in at the deep end for Leicester



The Algeria forward joined the Foxes for around £28million from Sporting Lisbon on transfer deadline day and is due back to his new club on Friday

The deal smashed the Premier League champions' transfer record after they paid £16million to sign Ahmed Musa from CSKA Moscow in the summer

But despite Slimani having been away - playing in Algeria's Africa Cup of Nations 6-0 win over Lesotho - since clinching his move, Ranieri would not hesitate playing him at Anfield on Saturday.

He said: "I haven't seen him (yet) but I will speak with him

He is available for Saturday, h e could play but I want to speak with him, to see him and they we will see

"Yes (it would be a big call), but he is good

He only has to score goals

He is ready, he played all the matches with Sporting and he is ready to play with us

"It is important when a player changes country that he has to adapt and keep calm

Of course we bought him because we believe in his ability

"It is a goalscorer but it is important he understands the Premier League

It is different from the Portuguese league but he is a very interesting player

"He's similar to (Leonardo) Ulloa

Now we have two big boys up front who can also play together

We have a good platform and are building now - when we play lot of matches I'm very confident when they're fit and ready to play.

"He cost a lot of money but if you see the market, it was a crazy

I think as a goalscorer he cost less than others

He was a good buy for us."

Ranieri will also have Kasper Schmeichel fit after the goalkeeper came off in Leicester's 2-1 win over Swansea with a hernia problem

The Denmark international has recovered from an operation and is likely to keep Ron-Robert Zieler on the bench after the German replaced him against the Swans

Nampalys Mendy is also still out with an ankle injury while Jeff Schlupp will not be risked as he continues to recover from a muscle strain

Source : PA

Source: PA