Islam Slimani admits the movie Goal! helped convince him about joining Newcastle United.

Toon new boy Kenedy, 21, this week revealed he first knew about the club because of the 2006 movie which depicts the fictional story of a Mexican immigrant making a dream move to St James' Park.

And now deadline-day signing Slimani has also credited Goal! as one of the inspirations behind his Newcastle switch.

The Algerian, 29, said: “Newcastle is an historic club so I've known about it from a very young age.

“When I was young, the film Goal! was around - and there were legendary players like Alan Shearer."

Slimani soon hopes to be fit and firing to help Newcastle, who are just one point above the drop zone, stay in the Premier League.

He said: “Hopefully I'm going to be able to come here and give them a hand.

“I'm a goalscorer and 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's what I joined this club for."