Nabil Bentaleb was one of the early winners on when Mauricio Pochettino moved Tottenham Hotspur. The Tottenham boss played him in Partnership with Ryan Mason and they were reasonably successful together, guiding Tottenham to a 5th placed finish and a League Cup final.
However, it became very clear that he still had a lot of problems with his game that he needed to work out, and the only way he was going to do that was by going on loan. Mauricio Pochettino as he started to progress his Tottenham team decided that he could not wait for Bentaleb to iron out his issues, so sent him out on loan to Schalke.
Perhaps, though, it is a sign of things to come as Schalke have a £17million option to buy. This may just be a sign that Pochettino doesn’t rate Bentaleb full stop and is willing to release the youngster.
After a poor start at Schalke, Bentaleb is finally finding his form and has really started to impress.
Schalke coach Markus Weinzierl has praised Bentaleb, although he refused to confirm that they have already triggered their £17million option to buy the Tottenham midfielder.
Nabil Bentaleb: Has played the most accurate through balls (4) in the Bundesliga this season #S04 pic.twitter.com/KSa48Hty51
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) October 27, 2016
He has now scored 3 goals in 11 appearances across all competitions and set up one more in the league. Last weekend he scored two as Schalke coasted towards a 3-0 victory against Mainz.
Reports in Germany this week have jumped on Bentaleb’s good form and have stated that the player has already agreed a 4-year contract with the German club ahead of them triggering his £17million pound transfer fee.
“I am not the right person for contractual contents,” Schalke coach Weinzierl told kicker, and added that he could very well see Bentaleb play for the Bundesliga side beyond next summer.
He said: “It’s beyond debate that Nabil is playing really well right now. Central midfield is very important for every team and Nabil’s someone who furthers us there.”
Earlier this month, Bentaleb told Bild that he did “not regret” his transfer to Schalke, who at that time had only picked up three points in the domestic league.
He said: “They believe in me at Schalke. I made this decision, and a few defeats won’t change anything.”
After a poor start to the season, Schalke’s form has improved since the start of October. They have made steady progress in all competitions and they go into today’s prestigious Revierderby having won 5 games and drawn 1 in their last 6. Bentaleb’s form has been a big factor in this.
If he continues to perform at this rate, maybe his Tottenham future isn’t done after all.