Slimani a costly mistake
ISLAM SLIMANI looks to have played his last game for Newcastle.
The Algerian faces a three-match ban after being charged retrospectively for kicking out at West Brom’s Craig Dawson during Saturday’s 1-0 defeat.
And the violent conduct charge means the on-loan striker is set to become the most expensive flop in Newcastle’s history.
Slimani will return to Leicester having cost the Magpies a staggering
£27,692 for every minute he’s been on the pitch.
That works out at a bill of
£2.5m per game, which will have owner Mike Ashley tearing his hair out.
Jinxed
The omens weren’t good from the outset, with Slimani arriving on Tyneside with a thigh injury.
His Newcastle career appeared jinxed when he suffered a recurrence of the injury. Slimani eventually pulled on a Magpies shirt for the first time when he was a sub in the 1-0 win over Huddersfield – 60 days after he’d joined.
His only start was at Everton last week but he was hooked for Dwight Gayle.
He made more of an impact off the bench against West Brom – though not in the way Rafa Benitez would have wanted.
Slimani kicked out at Dawson in the 80th minute. It was not spotted by the match officials but was caught on video. He has until 6pm today to respond to the charge.