ISLAM SLIMANI has pledged to fire Newcastle United to Premier League safety in the final three-and-a-half months of the season.

The Algeria international signed a season-long loan deal from Leicester City on deadline day, with Rafael Benitez having been desperate to recruit a new forward from the moment the transfer window opened at the start of January.

Benitez instructed Newcastle’s recruitment team to inquire about a number of different strikers last month, but after Feyenoord refused to lower their €25m asking price for Nicolai Jorgensen, the Newcastle boss flagged up Slimani as his preferred alternative.

Newcastle beat off competition from West Ham United and Monaco to land the 29-year-old for a loan fee of around £2m, and Benitez will be desperately hoping his deadline-day acquisition addresses the lack of goalscoring threat that has proved so damaging to the Magpies’ prospects in the opening 25 games of the season.

Joselu and Dwight Gayle have managed a combined total of just seven Premier League goals this term, and Slimani is determined to address his new employers’ lack of goalscoring prowess.

“I’m a goalscorer,” said the Leicester loanee. “That is what this team needs – it needs more goals, and that is what I’ll try to do in my time here, score as many goals as I possibly can.

“The key thing here is staying up and fighting for the team, and that’s exactly what I want to do. My objective is to make this team better, fight to remain in the Premier League. That is what I joined this club for.”

Newcastle were interested in signing Slimani when he left Sporting Lisbon to move to Leicester for £29m in the summer of 2016.

Having started his career in his native Algeria, Slimani burst to prominence when he won the Portuguese Cup and was named Algerian Player of the Year during his time with Sporting.

He impressed as Algeria made the knock-out stages of the World Cup for the first time in 2014, and joined Leicester on August deadline day two years later.

However, things have not gone to plan at the King Power Stadium, and he moves to Tyneside having scored just 13 goals in 46 senior appearances for the Foxes.

He has started just two Premier League games this term, so there is clearly a need for him to get his career back on track. A thigh injury means he is extremely unlikely to start Sunday’s game at Crystal Palace – there is an outside chance he could make his Newcastle debut from the substitutes’ bench at Selhurst Park – but he is delighted to have been offered a chance to rediscover his best form with the Magpies.

“It’s true that there were a lot of clubs that were interested in me,” said Slimani. “But knowing the power of the fans and crowd here, and how great they are, and also speaking to the manager, it gave me the confidence to know that this was the right choice.

“It’s a great thing for me – and for Newcastle. I’m happy to be here, and hopefully I’m going to be able to come here and give them a hand. The last 24 hours (of the transfer window) were complicated, but I think I’ve made the right choice. It’s a big club, and I’m definitely happy with my choice.”

Slimani was not the only player to have endured a busy 24 hours as he completed his move to the Magpies, as goalkeeper Martin Dubravka also made a last-minute dash to Tyneside to sign a season-long loan deal from Sparta Prague.

Newcastle made a number of unsuccessful attempts to sign Dubravka at the start of the window, with Sparta initially rebuffing any suggestion of a loan deal. The Czech side held out for a permanent deal for more than three weeks, and Dubravka’s hopes of moving to England looked to have been over when he was named in the Sparta squad that travelled to Spain for a training camp.

Things changed earlier this week when Newcastle’s recruitment team were told a loan would be possible, although there was still some additional to-ing and fro-ing before the 29-year-old was finally given the green light to travel to Tyneside to undergo a medical. Once that was completed, he was finally able to relax and watch Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Burnley from the St James’ Park stands.

“I was on the phone to my agent many times,” said Dubravka. “I couldn’t sleep in the night because I didn’t know what was going to happen, but then somebody called me and said I should take an early-morning flight. But then suddenly something changed again, and I was just waiting on the phone, waiting for an answer from the clubs. That was my day.

“I feel amazing though. This is a big step in my career, and in my life also. I am really thankful. It is one of the biggest moves I have made. When I went to Sparta it was also a dream because when I was a child I was dreaming I could play for a big club, but this step in my career now is amazing.”