Nabil Bentaleb is again in the bad books at Schalke, and he’s had a roller-coaster ride at the club since his Tottenham transfer.
Slammed by the German media as one of the Schalke ‘slackers’ just after his move, Bentaleb then went on to shut everyone up.
Pinpointed as surplus to requirements by Mauricio Pochettino for whatever reason, and there were plenty of rumours, Bentaleb left Tottenham initially on loan in a deal which turned into a permanent transfer worth around €20m.
In February 2017 Bentaleb was playing so well he was linked with Manchester United and Liverpool, with Schalke potentially making a big profit on what they’d paid Tottenham. The midfielder was said to have a gentleman’s agreement he could leave for €30-35m the following summer.
The month after, German football legend Lothar Matthaus recommended him to Bayern Munich: “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.”
Now it’s all changed again and along with Breel Embolo, Bentaleb is described as part of Schalke ’42 Million Problems’, a reference to what the pair cost.
Recently dropped from the squad, SportBild quote Schalke manager Domenico Tedesco as saying: “Without going into detail: His behaviour in training we didn’t like recently, so he was not in Munich.”
The former Tottenham player was reportedly going into tackles too hard, and generally being an annoyance.
Still only 23 years of age, it could all improve again quickly for the footballer, but it may be best to leave Schalke, the way he’s either hero or zero could get to anyone.
