According to a fresh report from Calciomercato, Inter Milan were close to sealing a deal for Leicester City loanee Islam Slimani in the last couple of days of the winter window.

What's the word, then?

The same report states that Antonio Conte was on the lookout for a new striker who could be used as an alternative for his main man up front, Romelu Lukaku.

Slimani is currently on loan at Monaco and has already played a total of 14 games for the French side, bagging seven goals and seven assists in the process, proving that he's quite lethal.

What could've been... Can you name the clubs these football legends almost joined?

The Italian outlet also explain that everything was set for the transfer to go through and the Nerazzurri were in advanced negotiations and even reached an agreement with the player, but the deal ultimately collapsed due to details they don't reveal.

Needless to say, this could've been a big scoop for Inter.

Verdict

With 14 goal contributions in as many games, Slimani truly is on fire in 2019/20 in Ligue 1 and does seem like a player Conte could put to good use back in Italy as well.

Of course, Lukaku has also been quite prolific since his departure from Manchester United as the 26-year-old has already bagged 20 goals and four assists across all competitions for the Nerazzurri.

But with him and Lautaro Martinez often playing side by side, it's reasonable for Conte to be looking for a plan B in case of fatigue or injuries during the remainder of the campaign.

The initial report doesn't say anything about Inter potentially coming back for the player, but maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea at all.

In other news, many Everton fans reacted to the Toffees' failed transfer for one of Inter Milan's aces...