Watford's hopes of signing Islam Slimani from Leicester have ended, the Watford Observer understands, with Besiktas now favourites to sign the Algerian forward.

The Hornets had chased the 29-year-old since the summer, but have been priced out of a move with the Foxes holding out for a significant chunk of the £29 million they paid for him in the summer of 2016.

Slimani was left out of the Leicester squad for today's game with Watford, but had briefly appeared to be back in the fold following back-to-back starts, including in the FA Cup game with Fleetwood on January 6.

But while the Foxes still want rid of what has turned out to be an expensive mistake, he will not be re-uniting with former boss Marco Silva at Vicarage Road.

Silva, meanwhile, again said he would be happy to start with two in attack as Andre Gray and Troy Deeney produced the most dangerous period of today's game when played together after half-time.

He said: "We can start with two up-front. We know it’s tough to play here, the match was balanced and there was plenty of respect between both teams.

"There was one transition where they won the second ball and Vardy won a penalty with a piece of quality.

"We reacted well when we had two strikers. Pereyra behind the striker didn’t give us what we wanted, so we changed it. It’s a possibility in the next game."