Islam Slimani reveals unhealthy habits he had at Sporting | OneFootball

Islam Slimani opened the chest of memories to share one of the most amusing stories from his time at Sporting - which is at risk of losing a key player. A connection lived in two distinct moments: he arrived at Alvalade in 2013, left in 2016, and returned to wear the green and white in the 2021/22 season. The Algerian forward, now 37 years old and playing for the Romanian team Cluj, recalls that, at the time, the absolute priority was to work and evolve under the orders of Leonardo Jardim, with food taking a back seat.

"I was hungry when I arrived at Sporting. My life was as follows: I went to training, returned home, and ate a pizza - one of those frozen ones... I swear it's true. Frozen pizza at noon; and I also ate noodles, the kind that come in a packet and you boil. I ate that every day, along with tuna and margarine...", explained the forward in an interview given to journalist Colin Dicanot's channel.

"I ate that every day, along with tuna and margarine... I took a nap, went for a coffee, and what I hadn't eaten in the morning, I ate at night or the next day. I did that for a year. I never went to a restaurant. I swear, and I didn't know how to cook...", said the former Sporting player.

And he added, amidst... much laughter from both: "You know the worst part? They served lunch at the Academy, but I didn't know. I was so focused that I didn't even know and went straight home (after training). And no one asked me why I wasn't eating...", he noted.

Wearing the lion on his chest, Slimani completed 123 games (plus one with the B team), in which he scored 61 goals and registered nine assists. In 2013, the SAD paid 300 thousand euros to CR Belouizdad, an Algerian club, for his transfer. This season, wearing the Cluj jersey, Islam Slimani - valued at 400 thousand euros - has played eight matches in the Romanian Superliga. In the 323 minutes he was on the field, the forward scored one goal and made one assist.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.