Speaking as a guest on Sky Sports, Thierry Henry has told NUFC fans just why he expects new signing Islam Slimani to hit the ground running at St James’ Park, saying the striker he has followed for a ‘very long time’ is ‘strong, quick, good in the air and a hard worker.
Massive praise from a man who knows a thing or two about putting the ball into the back of the net in the Premier League and some comments that should be music to the ears of all NUFC fans.
To begin with Henry admitted to having watched him during his superb stint with Sporting Lisbon, saying he has tracked him for a ‘very long time’, explaining what sort of striker he is:
“I’ve followed him for a very long time. He works hard, he’s good in the air, he’s strong, he’s quick.”
Henry was then asked if Slimani was a good move for Newcastle in place of the outgoing Aleksandar Mitrovic:
“It’s a good move for him and for Newcastle . It’s a no brainer for me,”
Interesting to see him describe Slimani in and Mitrovic out as a ‘no brainer’ – especially when I’ve seen quite a few Newcastle fans suggest he’s no better than the Serbian – although isn’t that argument irrelevant when Rafa was clearly reluctant to give Mitro a chance?
I actually watched his discussion about Slimani on Sky Sports and, without having the quotes to share, he also touched on how impressed he was with Slimani’s outstanding World Cup performance against Germany for Algeria back in 2014, with him proving that day that he could mix it with the best.
Here’s a clip of him in action:
