Newcastle United striker Islam Slimani has received a surprise call-up to the Algeria squad despite his recent injury troubles, and fans have taken to Twitter in outrage at the decision.
The 29-year-old striker joined the Magpies on loan from Leicester City in January, but is yet to appear for Rafa Benitez’s side due to an ongoing thigh injury.
Slimani was brought in to help solve Newcastle’s lack of goals, but the Algeria international is yet to get a chance up top for his new club.
Despite these issues, Slimani has surprisingly been named in Rabah Madjer’s latest Algeria squad for their friendlies against Tanzania and Iran during the international break, as reported by the Chronicle in their live blog (Wednesday, 16:56).
Slimani could yet withdraw from the squad due to his injury issues, but it is yet to be seen whether he will do so.
The 29-year-old was a £29million signing for Leicester in the summer following their Premier League triumph, with Slimani arriving from Sporting Lisbon where he had scored 57 goals in 111 appearances.
However, his time at Leicester was spent mostly as a substitute, with the striker scoring 13 goals in 48 appearances for the Foxes before agreeing to head to Tyneside on loan in January.
Newcastle fans have taken to Twitter after the announcement to express their outrage at the decision.
This is Futbol have rounded up some of the best tweets:
Micheal Owen all over again ???????????????
— paul (@toonislife) March 14, 2018
Am I right in thinking the club can’t refuse to release a player. But the player can say he’s injured . I’m sure this is something that England have had issues with before
— ben willetts (@willetts_ben) March 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/histonadam85/status/973973087317307393
Shouldn't be allowed until you have made a club appearance.
— IanD (@IanD1984) March 14, 2018
Seriously? Sir Alex wouldn’t have allowed it back in the day.
— James DeMarco (@jazadal) March 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/chadb243/status/973968194368090114
Ridiculous!
— Ian (@geordieexile) March 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/Marlii85/status/973967675612368896