Tottenham: Nabil Bentaleb Joins Schalke

Former Tottenham midfielder, Nabil Bentaleb, has joined Schalke permanently on a four-year deal until 2021.

What was being reported just 10 days ago is now officially complete.

Schalke have just signed former Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb according to FourFourTwo on a four-year deal.

Below are a trio of tweets, one by Schalke announcing the move and two by Nabil Bentaleb looking forward to a new challenge that awaits him and to thank Spurs for helping him during his time with the north London club.

Because of this latest sale by Spurs, they now recoup £16 million for a player that — while he had a solid season during the 2014-15 campaign — was largely a disappointment in his second term under Mauricio Pochettino.

Stalled contract negotiations and an experiment to try and see how Eric Dier would be as Spurs’ emergency option at defensive midfielder meant that Bentaleb’s time at the Club was nearing an unceremonious end.

Related Story: Tottenham Set to Pocket £16m with Bentaleb Sale to Schalke

It didn’t help that the Algerian international didn’t perform well when given the chance and also picked up two injuries along the way.

Not content with sitting on the bench and being a rotational player, Nabil Bentaleb sought out Pochettino to hopefully get more playing time.

Because a then-21-year-old Bentaleb wasn’t in the Argentine manager’s plans for this season, what transpired was a season-long loan move with an option-to-buy added to the deal with Schalke.

After joining the Bundesliga side before this past summer’s transfer deadline, and making 20 league appearances — the clause needed to make his loan move permanent — Nabil Bentaleb’s wish to seek out more playing time was granted.

Speaking to Schalke’s official website (quotes provided by FourFourTwo, Nabil Bentaleb had this to say:

"“Even when I came to Schalke in the summer, it was my goal to play here as often as possible and convince the club to commit myself permanently.”.“The fact that this has now worked out and everything is perfect, feels great.”“It’s good to have someone to trust you. The team of coaches, my teammates, the people responsible, the whole club have made it easy for me to feel at home with Schalke.“I am happy to be part of the club.”"

More from Hotspur HQ

• Storybook ending after difficult period for Tottenahm’s Richarlison
• Tottenham comeback showcased invaluable intangible Ange has cultivated
• Tottenham player ratings in 2-1 comeback win over Sheffield United
• Tottenham projected starting 11 for Sheffield United
• Tottenham’s Richarlison says he’s going to seek psychological help

With 20 league appearances this season and four goals to his name, plus four assists, Bentaleb has been a boon for Schalke who currently resides in 10th place of the Bundesliga.

It’s not surprising that a permanent deal was made after only just five months on loan.

Schalke are getting a young midfielder who has the potential to get even better if he maintains this performance up in the coming years.

As for Tottenham, the only negative with this sale is losing a valuable piece of depth on this squad.

Which has been sorely lacking ever since Mauricio Pochettino took over.

Now, Bentaleb wouldn’t have started over Victor Wanyama, though he would have been a capable backup to the Kenyan international.

Wanyama has already made 34 appearances in all competitions. It shows that he’s been a key piece this term but also points out Mauricio Pochettino’s tendency to not rotate a whole lot.

Victor Wanyama is on pace to play in sub-50 games. Even when not appearing in four matches — though he was on the bench as an option for Pochettino.

It could be said that having four midfielders with Mousa Dembélé, Wanyama, Harry Winks and Bentaleb would have been overkill, but with the amount of injuries that Spurs have accumulated this season, they don’t have enough viable options to play at certain positions when someone got hurt.

Namely at striker, left-back and center-back. Three positions that stood out.

Vincent Janssen and Kevin Wimmer have rarely been given a chance to play. While Ben Davies is a solid left-back in his own right but doesn’t fit the profile of a left wing-back to stretch opposing defenses when Tottenham go on the attack.

Next: Pochettino Happy with Performance Despite Loss

All of this isn’t to say that Spurs made a terrible mistake to sell Nabil Bentaleb, especially because he wasn’t in Mauricio Pochettino’s plans for this season.

But it seems as though the Argentine manager is a bit too hasty when it comes to selling players if they don’t fit his style of play.

Rather than experimenting a bit more to see where they could be better deployed (e.g. Dier at holding mid last season, wide center-back in a back three this year).

At the end of the day, Spurs receive a healthy £16 million. Which is nothing to scoff at.