Slimani speaks with The Guardian after half a season with the English champions, Leicester

Islam Slimani spoke in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian this week, reflecting on his time with Leicester so far and his experience in the Portuguese capital before his big move to the English champions.

"Sporting CP was vital for my career, it was difficult to grow in Algeria. I grew a lot in Sporting CP and it is a club that was really important in my life", said the imposing forward, adding a word on his time in the Premier League so far: "My way of playing fits in with the style in England, but I still need to adapt, particularly in terms of speed. The defenders are really strong and hard here."

Agreement with Leicester City for the transfer of Islam Slimani

Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Leicester City Football Club for the permanent transfer of Islam Slimani for 30,000,000.00€, with an additional 5,000,000.00€ subject to objectives.

Sporting SAD wishes Islam Slimani the best of personal and professional success.

Algerian forward touched down in Lisbon this week and is eager to get back into action

Slimani might only have arrived back in Lisbon this week, but he is already out on the training pitch. Landing at lunch time, the Algerian was with the rest of the squad for the afternoon session.

Speaking with Sporting TV and the Sporting Journal, Slimani revealed that he has been missing the action: "I arrived back a bit later because I had some family issues to take care of and we in Ramadan as well. I feel great and I am looking forward to getting back to work. Of course I missed training, and the players and staff too. Our objective is to win the league and we want to do well in the Champions League as well. I have been paying attention to the new lads we brought in and it is down to the coach to pick the squad. I want to break my goals record and If I keep doing my job then it won't be difficult, with the help of the fans. We play for them and we win for them. They are always with us and that won't change."

Rui Patrício, João Mário, Adrien Silva and Slimani all named from the Portuguese League

Sporting dominates the UEFA Portuguese League 2015/16 team named this week, on the institution's official website.

A total of four Sporting players feature from Jorge Jesus' squad: Rui Patrício, João Mário, Adrien and Slimani.

2015/16 XI in full: Rui Patrício (Sporting); Maxi Pereira (FC Porto), Miguel Layún (FC Porto) and Jardel (Benfica); Danilo Pereira (FC Porto), Adrien Silva (Sporting), João Mário (Sporting), Rafa Silva (SC Braga) and Nico Gaitán (Benfica); Jonas (Benfica) and Islam Slimani (Sporting).

Sporting CP reclaim Liga NOS top spot with solo strike from Slimani

Sporting CP moved back onto the top of the Liga NOS pile this Saturday night with a battling win against Moreirense, courtesy of a 16th minute strike from Islam Slimani.

With the Liga NOS top spot up for grabs, Sporting showed their intentions early on to go on the attack and Jorge Jesus' side could have taken the lead from the very first play, when Slimani forced a corner that ended up harmlessly wide of Stefanovic's goal. Moreirense responded down the other end with a chance of their own, with a corner from Fábio Espinho headed just wide of the mark by André Micael. Not to be outdone, Sporting charged back and a break away from João Mário down the right ended up with the ball at Bryan Ruiz's feet, but the Costa Rican was unable to get his shot away. The next opportunity came when Adrien was brought down at the edge of the area for a free-kick and Bryan Ruiz stepped up for the resulting set piece, only to be denied by a decent save by Stefanovic.

Sporting continued to press and it paid off in the 16th minute, when Teo Gutiérrez found Schelloto with a delicate pass that the Italian-Argentinean diverted on to Slimani. With the goal at his mercy, the Algerian did what he does best and gave Sporting a deserved lead. The goal did little to slow up the team from Alvalade, while Moreirense could do little but resort to dead ball situations in reply. on 35 minutes, Nildo called Rui Patrício into a rare bit of action, with the Sporting keeper instinctively parrying away for a corner from the Brazilian's free-kick. Three minutes later, Teo Gutiérrez could have doubled his side's lead, but the Colombian came up just inches short of a cross from João Mário.

Looking to add a bit of comfort to their lead, Jesus' side continued to turn the screw and give minutes before the break João Mário tried to curl in a guided shot, but his effort finished the wrong side of the crossbar after a breakaway spearheaded by William Carvalho. Teo Gutiérrez actually had the ball in the back of the Moreirense net just before the break, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

The second-half got underway with the masses of traveling fans pushing Sporting for a second and the players responded with a wave of forays forward. Around the hour mark, Teo Gutiérrez had the goal at his mercy, but he was unable to keep his header on target. To their credit, Moreirense had attacking intentions of their own and did manage to force the odd slip up out of Sporting. However, a second goal for the visitors always looked more likely than an equaliser for the hosts and next it was William Carvalho to threaten, but he was unable to find the back of the net with his header following a Bruno César corner.

To add a bit of late drama, Bruno Paixão actually sent off Jorge Jesus after Rafael Martins put a hard tackle in on Schelloto, right in front of the Sporting bench. Jesus appealed for the referee to discipline the foul, but Bruno Paixão saw fit to instead send off the Sporting boss.

Trailing by just a single goal, the hosts rallied late on with some moves down the flanks, but Sporting stood firm. On 86 minutes Adrien dribbled his way through the middle, but once again the ball ended up off target. Sporting might not have scored a second, but Moreirense were even further away from an equaliser and as the final sounded the three points headed for Alvalade.

Decision in process against Islam Slimani

Slimani was absolved by the Portuguese Football Federation's (PFF) Disciplinary Council (DC) this Friday, for an alleged act of aggression towards Samaris in the Portuguese Cup.

The ruling reads: "It was not proven that the accused ran in the direction of Benfica's number 7 (Samaris), consciously hitting him with his right arm in the back of the head and knowing that he would be violating the regulations of the PFF and DC). A comparison with television images and statements from the referees does not allow for a conclusion beyond doubt that the incident was not witnessed by any of the refereeing team."

The DC ruled in favour of Sporting's augment that "the accused player was not running in the direction of Samaris, but in the direction of the ball, as the images show. The player knocks into Samaris because he, in understanding that the accused was approaching, moved to the side and opened his arms with the aim of stopping the accused and making an impact inevitable."

Further agreeing with the arguments put forwards by Sporting, the ruling quotes: "The accused ran with the intention of intercepting the ball, which was in the possession of the Benfica number 27, several metres away. Faced with the obstruction of Andreas Samaris, who opens his arms and moved sideways, the accused instinctively lifted up him arms and tries to turn his body, thereby knocking into the player."

Slimani's defence further adds: "The player never took his eyes off the ball and did not intend to hit the player Samaris. The impact between the two players was due to the speed that the accused was moving and the fact that Samaris put his body in his path at the last minute, making it impossible to avoid an impact."

Relative to the argument that referee Jorge Sousa did not see the incident, the Club defended: "it is not true that the incident occurred out of the view of the referee, who was following the ball, and the television images show that. The ball was virtually stopped at the feet of the Benfica number 21, Pizzi, at the time of the incident and the incident occurred no more than two metres to the left of the ball. The referee, who was 10 to 15 metres away and looking in that direction, could not have missed the incident."

Sporting put to five past Belenenses and keep the pressure on top sopt

It might have been a cold Monday night and a late kick-off, but that did little to put off the thousands of Sporting fans who made the short trip across the city to face Belenenses. The players received the message loud and clear and smartly went about dismantling the opposition with a clinical display of finishing.

Jorge Jesus' side made a strong start to the encounter and could have scored after just a couple of seconds, when Teo Guiterrez picked out Slimani. However Ventura got the better of the first of what would be several duels between the two over the course of the night. Belenenses shook it off and with their backline getting forward, the hosts created a chance of their own, when Carlos Martins found an inch of space and put a cross into the box. Rui Patrício, however, looked as untroubled as ever and comfortably collected.

That was essentially one of the hosts' only chances of the entire match, after which Sporting picked up the pace and pressure. Belenenses buckled and began to send passes astray, inviting the team from Alvalade to push up on the break. Slimani obliged and Ventura fumbled a save, isplling the ball out to Bryan Ruiz. The Costa Rican thought better to release Teo on goal, but the Colombian was unable to find the target. A couple of minutes later, Teo broke away behind the Belenenses line and charged towards goal, but Ventura was quick off his line to smother the opportunity.

Belenenses were struggling to hold on to possession, leaving them exposed to a hungry Sporting attack. William read the play with one of his trademark interceptions and exchanged passes with Slimani, before rounding the home keeper, but the Portuguese international's boots slipped from under him at the last minute. A similar move between Bryan Ruiz and Teo Guiterrez was denied by an excellent save from Ventura, signaling yet another chance left wanting in what was 20 minutes of an absolute avalanche of attacks.

Finally Sporting put the ball in the back of the net and who else but Slimani? Adrien Silva, who had actually been strangely quiet so far, broke through down the middle and released a ball into space that the Algerian chased down and hammered across the face of goal and in at the far post. The goal opened upon the action even more and 10 minutes later Belenenses gave away a soft penalty with a tackle on Bryan Ruiz that Slimani calmly converted on. To their credit, Belenenses didn't throw in the towel and had two chances of their own before the break, firstly from Carlos Martins with a shot that floated high of the mark and then from Miguel Rosa, who took possession off Schelotto and forced Rui Patrício to parry away for a corner.

The second-half was much of the same, with the hosts setting the pace and moving the ball around well. A third goal was soon coming, when Schelotto crossed in from the right that was cleared away by the Belenenses defence. However, Adrien was in the right place at the right time to rocket a shot into the back of the net. Although three goals up, Sporting continued to turn the screw and after Ruiz squandered a chance that Ventura was grateful to get a hand to, Costas rose highest to a corner and did just enough to cause confusion that Teo took advantage of to make it 4-0. Slimani rounded off his hattrick, but the linesman ruled the effort out for a debatable offside call.

Only with four already in the back of the net did Sporting slow and Belenenses made the most of the extra breathing room to push up the pitch. In face the hosts pulled a goal back, when Marko Bakic deflected a free-kick past Patrício. Jorge Jesus responded with the introduction of Carlos Mané and Aquilani into the action and the move proved just the trick. Mané broke free of his marker coming in from the left and crossed a bakl in for Teo and the Colombian smartly obliged with his second goal of the night. Ventura denied Slimani his hattrick late on and in the dying seconds Tiago Silva scored a consolation for Belenenses to set the final score at 5-2.

Slimani brace secures three points in Estoril

Sporting proved that the Liga NOS title race far from over this Saturday evening, with a 2-1 over Estoril to provisionally reclaim top spot.

Buoyed on by a stadium packed out by Sporting fans who had made the short trip from the capital to the outskirts, Jorge Jesus' side made a solid start to the encounter, pegging Estoril back and piecing together chances on goal. First to try his luck was Ruiz after the Costa Rican picked up possession after darting across to collect from a corner that he himself took, but it was Slimani who opened the scoring, when the Algerian masterfully controlled on the edge of the area, before cutting back across his marker and lashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

Estoril responded with a shot down the other end from Mattheus, but the final product finished harmlessly wide in what was one of the host's few forays forward in the opening stages. With Sporting holding down possession, opportunities to extend the lead naturally followed. Teo fired a shot straight at the keeper after a driven pass by João Mário, before Ruiz sliced a tricky half-volley wide after Slimani had created space with a spectacular first touch and backheel.

The first-half finished exactly as it had started, with Sporting putting the ball in the back of the net. Of course it was Slimani who again did the damage, peddling backwards to get the jump on his defender and head home after a deadly hanging cross from Ruiz.

Sporting looked just as dominant after the break, particularly with some incisive passing down the right flank. First it was Schelotto who created a yard of space with a bit of skill and got a cross away, but neither Teo Gutierrez or Bryan Ruiz were able to convert. Next it was Slimani turned creator, sending in a driven pass that Teo came just inches of finishing. To their credit, Estoril didn't lay down and accept defeat and Mendy managed to break away into the Sporting 18-yard box, but Rui Patrício calculated his rush off his line to perfection to get his body in the way of the shot.

The pace of the game started to sap away as the clock ticked over and Estoril made the most of the chance to push their defensive line higher up th pitch. The move almost proved to be a disaster for the hosts, as Slimani exploited the extra space behind the back four. In fact, the Algerian came close to his hattrick after rounding Kieszek, but he denied himself an angle on goal in the process. João Mário also had a decent chance after a good pass from William, but the Sporting midfielder was unable to keep his shot on target.

To make for a nervy run-in, Estoril managed to get a goal back through Leo Bonatini after a corner that was headed on to the back post. Spirits lifted, the hosts almost drew level with the last kick of the game when Schelotto failed to clear away a header deep inside his own box, but Patrício made an instinctive save down low to secure three points.

Alvalade forward included for Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers

Alvalade star Islam Slimani will feature for Algeria in two encounters against Ethiopia, as part of his country's Africa Cup of Nations 2017 qualification campaign. The first match will take place in Algeria on the 25th of March, before the return leg in Ethiopia on the 29th of March.

Algeria currently lead qualification group J with six points.