Tottenham Hotspur have agreed to sell Nabil Bentaleb to Schalke for €22m, as long as the Bundesliga club enforce that before the end of April 2017.
That’s what SportBild are reporting in their magazine this week. Tottenham fans who have been taking a keen interest in the Bentaleb story may well be thinking that amount differs from an earlier claim… and they’d be right.
SportBild say Schalke have paid Tottenham a €2m loan fee, and Bild may assume that comes off the final price, allow for currency fluctuations and it all sounds pretty much reliable.
Bentaleb had been a favourite of Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, but the emergence of other young midfielders, such as Eric Dier and Dele Alli, provided extra competition. Pochettino obviously wasn’t convinced Bentaleb could battle back, and so the loan to Schalke and purchase option was agreed.
Bentaleb’s time at Schalke has changed completely. The club’s shocking start to the season saw him as one of the players most blasted by German newspaper Bild. It was over the top stuff, and the newspaper has since been made to look rather silly as Bentaleb had led the Schalke revival.
The player’s personal intentions will be crucial in any transfer, and if he wanted to return to Tottenham, and Pochettino was keen, then there’s still the possibility of that happening.
