In what became an unnecessarily tense affair on transfer deadline day, Islam Slimani was loaned from Leicester City to Newcastle United for the rest of the season.
Rumours of a failed medical started circulating a few hours before the January window shut, panicking Newcastle fans, but the deal taking the 29-year-old to St James’ Park was eventually announced a bit later.
However, had Edin Dzeko moved to Chelsea, then the story could have been very different, as AS Roma were interested in bringing in the new Newcastle forward last Wednesday.
This is according to Le Buteur, who claim the information comes from the player himself.
On top of the Bosnian staying in Rome, there would have been an issue with the fact Slimani doesn’t have a European passport, meaning he would have taken up a non-EU spot in the Serie A squad.
While he would have enjoyed going to Italy, Le Buteur explain that Rafa Benitez’s phone call to bring him to St James’ Park ‘changed everything’, probably due to the fact it allowed the Algeria international to stay in the Premier League.
