Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nabil Bentaleb has now opened up on his exit from the London club.
The 28-year-old has revealed that it was his decision to force an exit from the Premier League club and Tottenham were counting on him at that point.
However, he decided to pursue his own ambitions and leave the club in the end.
The midfielder has now revealed that he regrets the move away from Tottenham and he should have stayed at the London club.
He said to La Gazette du Fennec: “No, it was me. It was me. Like I’ve already said, I was young, and stupid. I rushed, I did everything to force an exit when they were really counting on me at Tottenham, but when I had an idea in mind, I wanted to see it through. That made me leave. It did help me to leave, but, if you ask me now, looking back, I would have stayed.”
The talented midfielder came through the ranks at Tottenham before leaving the club in 2016 on a loan deal to German club Schalke 04. The Bundesliga side signed in permanently for a fee of around €19 million later and he stayed at the club until 2020. He did return to the Premier League on a loan deal to Newcastle United but returned to Schalke again to see out the rest of his deal.
The 28-year-old is currently plying his trade at French club Angers and he has established himself as an important first-team player for them.
During his time at Tottenham, Bentaleb was rated highly at the club and he was expected to develop into a key player for them.
That said, Bentaleb has not been able to fulfil his tremendous potential. The 28-year-old was highly rated during his time in England and he was versatile enough to operate as a central midfielder as well as a defensive midfielder.
