Midfielder Nabil Bentaleb had been on the receiving end of the of a huge amount of criticism at the start of the campaign. The Tottenham midfielder had made the move to Schalke in the summer. After coming through the ranks at Tottenham, Bentaleb had failed to secure a regular first-team spot at White Hart Lane under Mauricio Pochettino. This led to the temporary move to Schalke with a view of making the move permanent at a later stage. His performances upon moving to a new league were not especially great and this led to a lot of criticism. The criticism was especially profound considering that he was about to cost £16 million if he was to make a permanent switch.
Yet, the 22-year-old has been putting in some incredible performances over the last few months in order to convince Schalke that he was deserving of this transfer fee. The German side recently activated the clause that would see him make the permanent switch to Bundesliga in the summer. Not too long ago, German football Lothar Matthaus spoke highly of Bentaleb. He said:
“He often reminds me of Zidane, who, like Bentaleb, has Algerian roots. Of course, the comparison is too high, but technically Bentaleb is in a class of his own.”
The player has been receiving mixed reviews with his performances of late. Even though he has contributed five goals and four assists in 26 league appearances this season, there have been only two goals in his last 10 appearances across all competitions. Owing to the mediocre performances of the player, Schalke have been unable to make any significant inroads into the Bundesliga table. The disappointing form for the club has continued and the midfielder was unavailable for the game against Werder Bremen in the midweek action. Schalke suffered a heavy 3-0 loss which sees the club remain outside the top 10.
The prospect of qualifying for the Europa League looks difficult even if Schalke manage an astounding turnaround in fortunes in the last 10 games of the season.
After making such an expensive signing, the club would be expected to make plenty of noises in the Bundesliga table and it has not been the case. Bentaleb has come under criticism for his mediocre performances.
Tottenham would be glad to see the back of the 22-year-old, who did make an impression in the 2014-15 campaign. In his last season at White Hart Lane, Bentaleb was able to make only 11 appearances in all competitions and did not score any goal.
