Why Newcastle United should sign Nabil Bentaleb permanently
According to Chronicle Live, Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce is willing to sign midfielder Nabil Bentaleb permanently once his loan spell ends this June.
Bentaleb, 25, despite having a troublesome spell with Tottenham earlier in his career, revived his career with Bundesliga side Schalke. He was a regular member of the squad since joining them in the summer of 2016.
But since the end of last season, he has been training with Schalke’s U23 squad after coming under disciplinary actions. However, a move to St. James’ Park has helped him as he has featured regularly under Steve Bruce.
Meanwhile, the Magpies have struggled to hit top form since the 4-0 loss to Manchester United on Boxing day. They have fallen to 13th place in the league table after failing to win any of their last three games in the league.
Though their defensive unit started to do better before the league got suspended, the Magpies attack has faltered and has been inconsistent throughout the campaign. In the midfield, Jonjo Shelvey, Sean Longstaff, Matt Ritchie, Valentino Lazaro and Bentaleb are the only forward-thinking midfielders available at the manager’s disposal.
While Shelvey, who is Newcastle’s top scorer with 5 goals and Longstaff have featured regularly, both Bentaleb and Lazaro are on loan from Schalke and Inter Milan respectively. And once they return to their parent clubs, the Magpies would fall short of options in the midfield.
Thus, the manager should sign the Algerian permanently in the summer if they are to do well next season.
Despite featuring from a slightly deeper role, Bentaleb has scored a handful of goals for Schalke in the past. In 12 games in the 2017/18 season, he racked up 4 goals and 3 assists and followed it with 8 goals across all competitions last season.
The Algerian international has made nearly 200 appearances at club level and has also featured 35 times for his nation. And his little experience would be a huge boost to the squad if Newcastle United sign him permanently.
Read more
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Verdict
With a lack of depth and quality in the midfield, the Magpies must bring in midfielders to the squad to make an improvement next season. And Bentaleb would undoubtedly provide them with the much-needed depth.
