Islam Slimani is training in Algeria in a bid to be fit to make his Newcastle debut in the match at Bournemouth on Saturday.
The 29-year-old is currently working his way back to fitness after joining United in a loan deal from Leicester with a pre-existing thigh injury, which he sustained before completing the move on transfer deadline day.
But with only 10 games left in which Slimani can feature in – Premier League rules prevent him from playing against parent club Leicester – the Algeria international is doing all he can to ensure he is available for the trip to the Vitality Stadium.
And the Northern Echo understand that Slimani was granted permission by Rafa Benitez to return to his homeland at the weekend, where he has been training and working with some of the coaches at the Sidi Moussa training centre, which is used as the main base for the Algeria national team.
We’ll likely learn more about Slimani’s fitness when Benitez holds his pre-match press conference later in the week, but it certainly is refreshing to hear about a player doing everything in his power to wear the black and white stripes.
Despite the encouraging performance of Dwight Gayle in the victory over Manchester United last time out, Benitez will certainly hope he can call upon Slimani for such a crucial game that could see Newcastle move further away from the relegation zone with another win.
