Islam Slimani flies into Newcastle to complete loan move from Leicester City

Newcastle United have agreed a deal to sign Leicester City striker Islam Slimani on loan until the end of the season.

Rafael Benitez is desperate for the club to provide him with more firepower in their fight for Premier League survival having missed out on two options earlier this week. After seeing two opening bids rejected, Newcastle missed a deadline to make a third for Feyenoord striker Nicolai Jorgensen with the Dutch adamant there will be no late deal for the 27-year-old.

Daniel Sturridge was also approached by the north east club, who agreed to pay loan fee to Liverpool to bring in the 28-year-old until the end of the season. Sturridge however instead chose a move to West Bromwich Albion, keen to return to the west Midlands.

Despite those setbacks, Benitez has been confident the club can still bring in a striker before Wednesday's [31 January] deadline with France Football now reporting a deal has been struck to bring Slimani to St James' Park. Leicester's record signing has started just one game since Claude Puel took the reins at the King Power Stadium and remains behind Jamie Vardy, Shinji Okazaki and Kelechi Iheanacho in the striking pecking order.

Slimani has now landed in Newcastle, according to the Chronicle, and will undergo a medical before completing his move.

While Benitez wants to strengthen his squad, Newcastle are also set to sanction a number of deadline departures. The arrival of a new striker is expected to trigger the departure of Aleksandar Mitrovic, with Sky Sports claiming Anderlecht have agreed a deal to take the Serbia international back to Belgium.

Henri Saivet meanwhile has passed a medical and completed his loan move to Turkish club Sivasspor on loan until the end of the season. Reports suggest that while Benitez would have preferred to hold onto the former Bordeaux midfielder, he could not make any guarantees over opportunities in the first-team, having made just four appearances this season.