Nabil Bentaleb ( ar, نبيل بن طالب; born 24 November 1994) is an Algerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Ligue 1 club

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

and the Algeria national team. Born in France, Bentaleb made his senior international debut in March 2014 and has represented Algeria at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 and

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

to Algerian parents from

Mostaganem Mostaganem ( ber, Mustɣanem; ar, مستغانم) is a port city in and capital of Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. The city, founded in the 11th century lies on the Gulf of Arzew, Mediterranean Sea and is 72 km ENE of O ...

, Bentaleb started his career at the academy of local side,

. However, he was released from the academy at the age of 15 and then went to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

to play for

Mouscron Mouscron (; Dutch and vls, Moeskroen, ; Picard and Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, along the border with the French city of Tourcoing, which is part of the Lille metropol ...

. Bentaleb then went on trial with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

before eventually signing into the academy of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in January 2012. During the 2012–13 season Bentaleb broke into the under-21 side at Tottenham and scored four goals in fourteen matches, including a winning goal against Arsenal's

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

. His performance that season earned him a new four-year contract at Tottenham Hotspur until 2018.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 22 December 2013, Bentaleb was selected into the 18-man first-team squad for

in a

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

match against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. He made his professional debut in that match when he came on as a substitute in the 50th minute for Mousa Dembélé, Tottenham won the match 3–2. His first start for Spurs came in the

North London derby The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main rivals, and the derby is co ...

against Arsenal in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

on 4 January. Bentaleb scored his first goal for the club on 17 December 2014 in the fifth round of the Football League Cup against Newcastle United. On 1 March 2015, Bentaleb started for Tottenham in the

2015 Football League Cup Final The 2015 Football League Cup Final was a football match that took place on 1 March 2015 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 2014–15 Football League Cup, the 55th season of the Football League Cup, a competition for the 9 ...

, a match they lost 2–0 to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. On 6 July, he signed a new five-year contract.

Schalke 04

On 25 August 2016, Bentaleb joined

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

on a season-long loan deal. He went on to make his debut in an away match against

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

two days later, which Schalke lost 1–0. His first start came the next weekend against

Bayern Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, after which Bentaleb became a fixture in new manager Markus Weinzierl's starting eleven. Enduring Schalke's worst ever start to a Bundesliga with five consecutive losses, Bentaleb confirmed his desire to remain in Gelsenkirchen, saying that "at Schalke they believe in me", while also appreciating the fans' ability to stick beside a team going through a rough patch in comparison to English fans. On 15 October, Bentaleb came through with his first goal for Schalke, a strike from distance that put them temporarily ahead of

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

in a 1–1 draw. This was the first goal reviewed by

goal-line technology In many outdoor ball sports, a goal line is a line in front of goal post and which a team attempts to advance the ball or puck towards to score a goal or points. In particular, see: * Football pitch A football pitch (also known as soccer fiel ...

in the Bundesliga to be successfully allowed. In Schalke's next match, he scored twice against

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

in a 3–0 victory, becoming the first Algerian to achieve the feat in Bundesliga play. Immediately after the match, a report emerged claiming that Bentaleb had already signed a four-year contract to remain with Schalke, which would go in effect after a permanent buying option in his loan deal was picked up, putting his future at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

in question. On 24 February 2017, Tottenham Hotspur announced that they had reached an agreement with Schalke 04 for Bentaleb's transfer to be made permanent at the end of the loan period. In March 2019 he was demoted to Schalke's under-23 team, "due to disciplinary reasons". He returned to the first-team in April 2019, before being dropped to the second team again later that month.

Newcastle United

On 21 January 2020, Bentaleb signed on loan with Newcastle United for the remainder of the

2019–20 Premier League The 2019–20 Premier League was the 28th season of the Premier League, the top English professional football league, since its establishment in 1992, and the 121st season of top-flight English football overall. The season started on 9 August 2 ...

season with the club having the option to make the deal permanent. Bentaleb made his debut in a 0–0 draw against Oxford United in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Bentaleb returned to Schalke at the end of the season after not impressing on loan.

Angers

On 6 January 2022, Bentaleb signed for French club

who play in Ligue 1, on a two-and-a-half year contract.

International career

On 14 November 2012, Bentaleb made his debut for France U19 in a friendly match, coming on as a half time substitute in a 3–0 loss to Germany U19. Despite having represented France, he has been courted by the Algerian Football Federation, and some sources said he already accepted. In January 2014, Tottenham Hotspur manager

Tim Sherwood Timothy Alan Sherwood (born 6 February 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1987 until 2005, notably as captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premier Leag ...

suggested that The English Football Association were also interested. However, Bentaleb would not meet the requirements to play for England under the unique rules set out in the Home Nations agreement. The Home Nations agreement requires that players engage in a minimum of five years of education before the age of 18 within the territory of the relevant association and do not offer national team eligibility through residency. On 15 February 2014, Bentaleb pledged his international future to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. A few days later, he was called up by Algeria coach

Vahid Halilhodžić Vahid Halilhodžić (; born 15 October 1952) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the most controversially successful Bosnian football managers, due to his successful tenure in coaching various na ...

for a friendly match against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. He made his debut on 5 March, playing the full game in a 2–0 win over Slovenia. He scored his first goal for his country against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

on 4 June 2014 at the

Stade de Genève Stade de Genève, also called Stade de la Praille, is a stadium in Lancy, Canton of Geneva. It has a capacity of 30,084. Overview The stadium was completed in 2003 by Zschokke Construction S.A. after nearly three years of construction. Normall ...

in Switzerland. In June 2014, Bentaleb was named in Algeria's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He started in midfield for the team's opening match of the tournament – a 2–1 defeat by

in Belo Horizonte on 17 June. He also played the full ninety minutes for ''Les Fennecs'' in their two other Group H matches; a 4–2 victory over

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

and a 1–1 draw with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. However, he was an unused substitute during the team's 2–1 defeat to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. On 15 December 2014, Bentaleb was named in Algeria's 23-man squad for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

in Equatorial Guinea.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bentaleb goal.''

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur * Football League Cup runner-up: 2014–15 Individual *

Goal of the Season: 2016–17 vs

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

on Matchday 7

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentaleb, Nabil 1994 births Living people French sportspeople of Algerian descent Citizens of Algeria through descent Footballers from Lille French footballers Algerian footballers Association football midfielders Lille OSC players R.E. Mouscron players USL Dunkerque players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players FC Schalke 04 players FC Schalke 04 II players Newcastle United F.C. players Angers SCO players Premier League players Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players France youth international footballers Algeria international footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Algerian expatriate footballers Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Algerian expatriate sportspeople in England Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Algerian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in France