Islam Slimani has hit back at claims that his brief loan spell at Newcastle United was a failure.
The 32-year-old forward joined Leicester City in the summer of 2016 for a club record fee but struggled to cement himself in the Foxes' first team.
After 18 months in the East Midlands, Newcastle signed the Algerian international on a loan deal until the end of the 2017/18 season as Rafa Benitez looked to address the Magpies' goalscoring issues.
However, a thigh injury ruled Slimani out of his first two months at the club and he made just four appearances for the Magpies, making only one start.
A stupid suspension picked up for kicking out at Craig Dawson in a defeat to West Brom saw Slimani banned for the final three matches of his stay at St James' Park and he returned to the King Power Stadium having failed to make an impression.
Slimani would go on to have a similarly poor spell on loan with Fenerbahce the following season and although he remains on Leicester's books, he has spent the last two seasons on loan in Ligue 1 with Monaco and Lyon.
And in an interview over the weekend, Slimani was keen to address his loan spells with Newcastle and Fenerbahce and insisted they should not be deemed as a 'failure'.
“As normally as possible. I went to Newcastle for six months, and spent four of them injured," Slimani told BeIN Sports (via Sport Witness).
"People say it’s a failure. No. I didn’t play because I was injured. After, with Fenerbahçe, I arrived, it was good, there was a manager who trusted me, played me.
“Then, one morning, they told me I couldn’t train with us because I was on loan and wouldn’t be there next year. I had offers in January to leave, but they stopped me. It was me and Yassine Benzia. For me, the only mistake I made was to go to Turkey”.
