Should Tottenham Sell This 21-year Old Despite Showing Glimpses Of Brilliance Last Season?

Tottenham’s Nabil Bentaleb was dealt a major blow as he tries to get back into the side in their run for Premier League glory. The 21-year-old Algerian international picked up a knee injury while playing for the U-21 team and will be out for six weeks.

Bentaleb though has not played many minutes for Tottenham, having made only two league starts this season. The Tottenham midfielder has also had to deal with the resurgence of Eric Dier in a new holding midfielder’s role and the availability of Tom Carroll and Ryan Mason does not provide a good sign for his future at White Hart Lane.

Speaking of the injury, Tottenham did tweet: “The expected recovery and rehabilitation is likely to see him return to training in approximately six weeks,” hoping that the midfielder could make his return in the final two games of the season but surely he would not get a starting berth if Tottenham are in the race for the Premier League crown.

The duo of Dier and Moussa Dembele could well occupy the two midfield slots and as stated, regarding the other two midfielders who seem to have a role in the team, Bentaleb should be sold next season.

The Algerian isn’t the worst player in the Premier League but sometimes, players have to be cut out from the squad, not because they aren’t good enough but simply because they will not get regular playing time and that is the exact case of what could happen to the youngster.

Bentaleb has been injured prior to this in the current campaign as well. The Algerian missed around three months before the start of the campaign. It isn’t just the injuries; he hasn’t been able to hit the heights at the club similar to what he achieved last season.

Tottenham need someone who can come into the team and do a job whenever there is a requirement. Bentaleb still is not the finished article and well, in this day and age of football, you cannot spend a lot of time on the bench for a top Premier League club and then hope that you become an automatic starter.

Mauricio Pochettino might have been able to find a few players and turn them around this season but Bentaleb does seem to be a lost cause. He could be a great squad player for a smaller club in the league but the direction that Tottenham are going in under Pochettino, it might be best for both the parties to make the best of this situation and say goodbyes to each other.