Despite his three-match ban being confirmed yesterday, ruling him out for the final few games of our season, it has been confirmed that Islam Slimani could remain on Tyneside to train – making us wonder if Rafa is keen to take another look at the Leicester loanee?
The Algerian was already having to make up for lost time when he came on as a late sub against West Brom last weekend. Little did we know his Newcastle career was about to go from bad to worse.
After a frustrating few minutes, he was pictured kicking out at Baggies defender Craig Dawson. He’s since put in a late and unsuccessful appeal after being charged for violent conduct by the FA, so his season is officially over.
Many expected him to return back to Leicester, however training pictures released yesterday have shown he’s still on Tyneside:
#nufc have released training photos from today – & Islam Slimani is among them. Seems he's still on Tyneside, even though he is ineligible for Newcastle's final three matches pic.twitter.com/AG0O66t6UO
— Chris Waugh (@ChrisDHWaugh) May 3, 2018
As things stand, had it confirmed that Slimani will remain on Tyneside for the time being & will continue training with #nufc, even though he is suspended for the final 3 games of his loan https://t.co/engdMJkoTS
— Chris Waugh (@ChrisDHWaugh) May 3, 2018
Is Rafa Benitez wanting to take another look at him or is this standard procedure that he must remain on Tyneside until his six-month loan deal comes to an official end?
It will be interesting to see what Rafa has to say about him today.
I’d be surprised if he was keeping around to run the rule over him ahead of any potential summer move, but you never know. He has most probably screwed up any chance of a permanent move after his actions last weekend, but Rafa has praised his attitude and performance levels in training..
Perhaps Rafa wants him to stay around & offer competition in training. We'll find out tomorrow at Rafa's Press conference, but there might be a good reason to keep him on Tyneside
— Chris Waugh (@ChrisDHWaugh) May 3, 2018
