English Premier League club Leicester City turned down a $49 million offer from Chinese Super League squad Tianjin Quanjian for striker Islam Slimani.

The 28-year-old Algeria international was acquired by Leicester City last summer from Portuguese side Sporting CP for a club record transfer fee of $35 million. He signed a five-year deal, joining compatriot Riyad Mahrez in head coach Claudio Ranieri's starting XI.

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Playing in his first season with the Foxes, he has so far scored six goals in 16 appearances in all competitions.

Quanjian head coach Fabio Cannavaro, himself a Juventus and Real Madrid legend, said to have turned his attention on Slimani after "missing out" on the services of Chelsea striker Diego Costa in the ongoing winter transfer window, The Sun reported.

Cannavaro had already shown his desire to acquire some of the big-names in European football when Tianjin outdid Juventus to the signature of Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel earlier this month.

The CSL squad only has two non-Asian imports at this time, Witsel and Brazilian forward Geuvânio, one less of the current limit of three foreigners playing at the same time on the field. Quanjian apparently needs more before the China top-flight competitions begin in March.

Meanwhile, a local Spanish newspaper has indicated that Ranieri will seek out Guangzhou Evergrande's Jackson Martinez should Slimani decide to join Tianjin.

Martinez is a part of Evergrande's four-import lineup with Brazilians Ricardo Goulart, Alan Carvalho, and Paulinho. The Colombian striker was reportedly left out by Guangzhou boss Luiz Felipe Scolari from the club's Asian Champions League roster as rumors have emerged that his time is soon done in China.

Should rumors push through, Martinez would be a fine replacement for Slimani, who is two years younger than the Colombian.

However, The Times reported that Leicester has already turned down Tianjin's $49 million bid for Slimani. Ranieri was adamant that his club is not selling anyone in the current window. He also expressed concern about the ongoing exodus of footballers from Europe to China.

"If something doesn't happen, China will buy a lot of players, young players," Ranieri said. "It could change the world because if the government want to bring good players, because at the beginning it was older players but now they start to buy managers, medium players in years, 26 and 27."

"Slowly, slowly, if they want to grow it could be a problem for the other leagues," he added.

TagsChinese Super League, Chinese Super League rumors, Chinese Super League rumors 2017, Islam Slimani, Leicester City FC, Tianjin Quanjian