Spurs loan out midfielder
Schalke have signed Nabil Bentaleb from Spurs on loan for the season.
The German side have paid an initial £1million for the loan spell, which has an option for them to pay a further £17million to make the deal permanent next summer.
Bentaleb, who has been capped 19 times by Algeria, did not feature much for Mauricio Pochettino’s side last season in a campaign blighted by injury. He has not trained with the first team since July after the Spurs head coach told him he was not in his plans.
Bentaleb will be joined by a familiar face at Schalke, with former Spurs team-mate Benjamin Stambouli also expected to move to the club on a permanent deal from Paris St Germain in the next few days.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, director of sport Christian Heidel confirmed the agreement with Spurs for Bentaleb.
“We have an agreement with Tottenham [for Bentaleb],” he told reporters. “We expect him to participate in training this afternoon.”
“Bentaleb is 100% fit, but we need to be patient and give him a little time to integrate into the team.”
On the immentent arrival of former Spurs midfielder Stambouli, he added: “He has just had his medical. We will wait for the results and we are positive that everything will be in order.
“Our new recruits know each other from their time together at Tottenham. They will good additions to the team.”
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10
