Rafa Benitez tells NUFC fans what to expect from Slimani & Dubravka following deadline day moves
After both of their loan signings were officially announced late last night, Rafa Benitez has had his say on the arrivals of Leicester striker Islam Slimani and Sparta Prague stopper Martin Dubravka - telling NUFC fans what both will bring to his team.
Starting with Sliamni, the signing of the Algerian hitman who cost Leicester £29m will be a big boost for Benitez. His arrival comes far later into the window than he would have liked, but he's been credited with an interest in him all month and he's finally got his man.
Here's what Rafa's had to say after signing Slimani:
"Slimani is a player with experience in the Premier league, and obviously we were looking for that.
"He is a player who can fight with defenders, challenge and score goals. Hopefully he can give us some experience and some different characteristics to the strikers that we have at the moment."
An interesting way of putting it from Rafa, who expects the 6ft 3' striker to 'fight defenders' and 'score goals' during his spell on Tyneside. Sounds like an interesting upgrade on Mitrovic to me! In all seriousness though, he'll soon become a hero at the club if he fires us to safety - and I'm quietly confident he'll be a hit.
Rafa then spoke about Dubravka, the 29-year-old Slovakian international who arrived on loan from Sparta Prague.
Here's what the Spaniard told NUFC fans about his new goalkeeper:
“Dúbravka is a Slovakian international goalkeeper, and he is someone with some experience. He will need to settle down quickly as he is a player coming from abroad, but he is very agile and he can play with his feet.
“He will give us some competition in goal, and that is what we are looking for.”
Good to see Benitez state that he's good with his feet, with one of the biggest flaws in Darlow and Elliot's game being their real limitations when it comes to distribution.
Let us know your thoughts folks - are you happy with these two buys?
