Newcastle have been offered fresh hope that deadline day loan signing Islam Slimani’s thigh injury is not as serious as first feared.
The Leicester City forward signed for the Magpies late on Deadline Day despite suffering the injury in training and was expected to be sidelined for two weeks, with rumours swirling that Aleksandar Mitrovic’s loan switch to Anderlecht was called off because Slimani had failed a medical.
But the Daily Mail’s North East Football Correspondent Craig Hope quickly moved to allay fears that Magpies fans wouldn’t see the 29-year-old in a black and white shirt until mid-February at the earliest.
I'm told the thigh injury picked up by Islam Slimani this week is not as serious as first reported & there is outside chance he could make NUFC bench at Crystal Palace this weekend, although home match v Man Utd a week Sunday more likely.
— Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) January 31, 2018
The journalist even believes there is an outside chance of the Algerian international being named on the bench for Sunday’s trip to Crystal Palace, although it’s unlikely that Rafa Benitez would be reluctant to resist his new striker until he is 100% fit. He could, however, make his home debut against Manchester United at St James’ Park a week later.
