OPINION
Rafa Benitez must not keep Newcastle United attacker Islam Slimani any longer than he has to, as the 29-year-old has proven himself to be a complete waste of time.
The Magpies manager revealed that he was yet to decide the future of Slimani, but his comments surely are being made out of politeness rather than anything else.
“We have not made a final decision about Slimani’s future – but we haven’t made a final decision about anyone’s future,” Benitez told Chronicle Live.
“We have two games to play and what we want to do is finish these games, then after we will sit down and think about all the players’ futures. Not only those players on loan, everyone who might stay or go.”
Benitez’s mind should already be made up about whether the centre-forward should don a Magpies kit next season, as his signing has been an utter failure.
The 29-year-old arrived at St James’ Park on loan in January from Leicester City and didn’t make his first appearance for the club until March 31 due to a thigh injury.
Since being fit enough to play, Slimani has hardly set the world alight in the four outings he has made, with him not finding the back of the net.
The centre-forward registered an assist during the 2-1 victory over Arsenal, but the whole point of Slimani’s signing was that he was going to bring the goals needed to fire the Magpies to Premier League survival.
However Benitez managed to find a way to guide his team to securing another season in the top-flight without the 29-year-old’s help.
To make matters worse Slimani, aside from not scoring, was recently handed a retrospective suspension for violent conduct that will cause him to miss the Magpies’ final games of the season.
The 29-year-old recklessly kicked defender Craig Dawson during the 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion, which proved he is exactly the type of player that should be kept far away from Benitez’s squad.
This action was the type of conduct that saw Aleksandar Mitrovic lose his place in the Magpies’ squad and shipped off to Fulham on loan, so why should the less passionate Slimani even be considered an option?
With the centre-forward due to return to Leicester City at the end of the season, when his loan deal expires, the Magpies cannot waste money on keeping him.
Therefore it’s easy to conclude that Benitez was just being polite when claiming he hadn’t decided Slimani’s fate as he knows there’s no way to justify keeping the 29-year-old at St James’ Park beyond his current loan deal.
