Even injured (he could miss the game against Marseille on Wednesday evening), Islam Slimani remains the talk of the town in France, as his form for Monaco since being loaned from Leicester City has been stellar.
We don’t use that word often, but the veteran striker has scored five goals and set up another seven in eight league appearances so far for the principality club, and it’s all everyone can talk about, including former Algeria manager Rabah Madjer, who helped contribute to an article in Le Monde about Slimani and how this season is the player’s revenge after a few years in no man’s land at King Power Stadium.
After Claudio Ranieri’s sacking, the former Sporting CP star struggled to find game time at Leicester and a couple of loans to Newcastle and Fenerbahçe were sorted out.
Neither were fruitful, and Madjer knows exactly why.
He said: “Whether it’s at Leicester, Newcastle and Fenerbahçe, no one trusted him. Djamel Belmadi was right to choose him for the national team, despite the critics, because he knew exactly what he could offer”.
This was backed up by former Algeria international Nordine Kourichi, who added: “People recognise his talents as a goalscorer, his generosity on the pitch, his mentality, but he’s often also criticised because he doesn’t correspond to the prototype of an Algerian footballer, which is very technical.
“Slimani isn’t necessarily nice to look at, but he’s efficient”.
He’s proven that at Monaco and Sporting CP, both times thriving under Leonardo Jardim, and perhaps it’s the likes of Leicester and Newcastle who have to be blamed for their treatment of the player, as there’s clearly a lot of talent there.
Then again, a chunk of his spell at St James’ Park was spent nursing injuries, so there’s little they could have done.
