Nabil Bentaleb

Its offishal

Better than a non-existent Ki I suppose.

Seems a good call to be fair. Hope he does well and thrives. Can't see him having any problems getting into the first team provided he can get fit.

He thinks we've got a 'project'.

Poor lad.

I’m quite pleased with this one. I think he could make a difference to our midfield. I’m guessing at the cost of one of the Longstaffs though 🙁

Surprisingly good move for a really good fee.

Unfortunately might just mean more frustration watching talented and useful players go to waste under this manager.

We'll see I guess.

He thinks we've got a 'project'.

 

Poor lad.

Maybe he's seen American films where "the projects" are shown as rat-infested hovels run by crooked slum landlords?

He thinks we've got a 'project'.

 

Poor lad.

Could go well, he has attributes we need. Could go poorly. See how it gans.

Best African signing since Lamine Diatta IMO.

Can't go worse than the last Algerian loan signing

Could go well, he has attributes we need. Could go poorly. See how it gans.

This is the kind of balance we need.

Hopefully good as our CM is very poor, even worse now under Bruce. Anyways, not sure what the point is when we are aiming towards nothingness.

How long before he’s ‘match ready’ since he’s been with their B team? Must be something like 100% fit but 57% match fit? I’d play him Saturday.

Hopefully good as our CM is very poor, even worse now under Bruce. Anyways, not sure what the point is when we are aiming towards nothingness.

The only point in this half season loan is trying to make sure we stay comfortably in the Premier league and stay on the gravy train.

Hopefully good as our CM is very poor, even worse now under Bruce. Anyways, not sure what the point is when we are aiming towards nothingness.

 

The only point in this half season loan is trying to make sure we stay comfortably in the Premier league and stay on the grant train.

Also to hope he’s good so he can spend pennies on a player rather than the average for a Premier League midfielder.

Hopefully good as our CM is very poor, even worse now under Bruce. Anyways, not sure what the point is when we are aiming towards nothingness.

 

The only point in this half season loan is trying to make sure we stay comfortably in the Premier league and stay on the grant train.

 

Also to hope he’s good so he can spend pennies on a player rather than the average for a Premier League midfielder.

That as well.  Following the old mackem blueprint of loan alllll the players.

He's the type of player you get in January when you're not prepared to pay the odds (let alone 'over the odds'). Players that are out of favour and/or unproven and/or damaged goods and/or unfit. Maybe there's a market out there, from time to time, which represents opportunity and value, like the cases of MLS/Miggy and France/Sissoko et al, but you tend to need good connections and good scouts for that.

 

Bentaleb's clearly in the mould of agents chucking their unwanted players to the four winds in the hope that someone is desperate enough to take a punt; see Doumbia. He won't have been scouted, how could he have been? He hasn't been playing.

 

Meh. Maybe he'll do alright. But I'm absolutely certain that, if Rafa had been given a competitive budget, a properly identified, transformative CM would have been very close to the top of his list. Diame rightly not retained, Shelvey unreliable, Hayden getting better but still could've been improved upon, Ki a stopgap and Longstaff with potential but unproven. It's a massively influential position and it can make or break a team. Rafa will have known that and I'm sure he'll have had ideas about what to do with it.

 

But then, maybe avoiding proper summer investment and scrabbling around in the January market - picking up unwanted lads who can't get a game for a sub-elite Bundesliga sides - is the key to taking us forward, which is of course absolutely what we're trying to do.

Well said.  We need two CM, IMO.  We need a true holding CM and one that is more pacy, athletic and creative.

And the crowd goes mild.

Ah, his Tottenham goal was a Jak Alnwick special.

This is good signing.

I would have thought they wouldn't have sanctioned a signing without someone going out. Maybe they have somehow terminated willems contract.

I am sure Ki or Saviet will be sold by the end of the window.

to be fair Bruce is handling ASM well if he really does have an attitude problem. Classic case of player on cheap cos managers don't like it but to be fair to Bruce (Shudder) one thing is clear is players do like him.

Well that is true, Bruce comes across as someone who is desperate to be liked, so I can imagine Big time Charlies would probably find it easier to play for him than someone like Rafa. Not sure it can work in the long term though, but at this point we desperately need some quality in the midfield area.

This is good signing.

It’s like a bot.