WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Nabil Bentaleb was born in France to Algerian parents, he started his career at Lille but was released from the Under-16s as a teenager. Following a short spell in Belgian club football, he went on trial at Birmingham City, but it was Tottenham who eventually signed the young youth prospect, with him joining the Spurs academy in January 2012.
BURST ONTO THE SCENE
As an Under-18 in 2011, he appeared in the FA Youth Cup and was named player of the tournament in the Staemwede Competition. In his first full youth season at the Premier League side, Bentaleb very quickly broke into the Under-21 side where he established himself, and scored four goals from midfield, including one against North London rivals U21 Arsenal. The academy manager at the time, Tim Sherwood, recognised his brilliance and led to the player penning a new contract for The Lilywhites. It was a four-year deal, keeping him at White Hart Lane until 2018.
FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL
Bentaleb was named as a substitute by Tim Sherwood, who was now managing the first eleven, for a league game against Southampton. After fifty minutes, he made his competitive debut and came on as a substitute in December 2013 for teammate Mousa Dembele, and Spurs went on to win this game 3-2. His first start was against North London rivals Arsenal, showing the extent of the faith that the manager had in him, represented by throwing him into the deep end straight away. During the course of the 2013/14 season, he ended up featuring in twenty games in all competitions, including a man of the match performance at St James’ Park where he bagged two assists in this Premier League encounter.
REGULAR ON THE TEAMSHEET
The 2014/15 campaign has seen the first full season for the young international get under away, and he has enjoyed regular first team football for his club. He started on the opening day of the season in an impressive away win at West Ham, and since then has enjoyed a defensive midfield partnership with fellow youngster Ryan Mason. As he gains more experience and his confidence has grown, Bentaleb has really come into his own, and enjoyed his first goal for the club in a Capital One Cup tie against Newcastle. He went on to start the North London derby at White Hart Lane and provided a sumptuous long range assist for Harry Kane to beat their The Gunners for the first time in a rather while.
PERFORMING TO THE WORLD
Nabil had the potential to play for England, France and Algeria. He eventually played his first international match for Algeria, the nationality of his parents, in a 2-0 win against Slovenia as part of preparation for the World Cup in March 2014. The first goal for his country came versus Romania where he slotted the ball past Costel Pantilimon from close range in another victory. Following these impressive performances in warm-up games, the midfielder was named in the 23-man squad for the tournament. In Brazil, he played every minute in the group stages where he made history for Algeria as they got reached the Second Round for the first time in their entire history. In January 2015, Bentaleb took part in his second major tournament, the Africa Cup of Nations. The Desert Foxes bowed out in the quarter-finals but he did score a vital goal from outside the box in the win against Senegal.
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
The number 42 has already cemented his place for his country and looks set to captain the national side one day, but he continues to learn with every game he participates in and will enjoy a Cup final at Wembley with his club. Pochettino is clearly a fan of the 20-year-old and always looks to play him ahead of the likes of Paulinho and Stambouli. Bentaleb has pledged his future with Tottenham and let us hope that he becomes one of the best midfielders in the world, following in the footsteps of rolemodel Zinedine Zidane.
