Wednesday, June 02, 2021
“Nothing shocks me anymore”
Bentaleb settles accounts with FC Schalke
Nabil Bentaleb has played for FC Schalke for five years. The midfielder is suspended five times by the ex-first-and-now-second division. In an interview, the 26-year-old tells his view of things. And also talks about what he wants the club he is leaving now.
When Nabil Bentaleb moved to FC Schalke in the summer of 2016, there were high hopes. The then 21-year-old was at least trusted to shape the royal blue midfield for years to come. After a few months, the loan turned into a player purchase, and Bentaleb impressed with strong performances. Young professional footballer, long-term contract, both Bentaleb and the club obviously assumed they could benefit from each other. Well, the working paper ends on June 30, 2021. An extension is not possible. If only because the now 26-year-old looks back on his experiences in Gelsenkirchen with drastic words: “After five years at Schalke, nothing can shock me anymore!”
The Schalke coaches suspended the 35-time Algerian national player five times, the phrase “the coaches” is necessary because there were seven of them in Bentaleb’s time at Schalke, five of them last season, which ended in the club’s deserved relegation. In an interview with “Sport1”, Bentaleb would now like to “tell my version” when it was asked that with such an accumulation of suspensions, it would probably not always be the others’ fault. And so he reports on his 26th birthday on November 24, 2020, from the conversation that he has just been suspended again.
He will “never forget what Jochen Schneider”, the now dismissed sports director, “said to me: ‘I know that we are not treating you fairly, Nabil. But you have to accept our decision.'” And that the club in a difficult situation. A description that makes it appear as if Bentaleb has been excluded without any real justification. “I was attacked by a lot of people at the club for two years,” said the defensive midfielder, describing his perception. “I was immediately the black sheep,” said Bentaleb, “I was the one who supposedly pulls everyone down.” And yes, she was pardoned five times, because every suspension was followed by a return to the team.
“Didn’t have this reputation before”
Allegations against the sporting leadership also resonate when Bentaleb explains on “Sport1” what it was like “when I was suspended for the first time”. At the time, his wife was pregnant with twins who had “only a 50 percent chance of survival”. Out of concern, he “slept for three months in the hospital with my wife” and “unfortunately not always” managed to come to training for this reason. Today all three are fine, but that’s not the only reason why he won’t forget the day his children were born. In the evening Schalke played against Leipzig, lost 1-0, Bentaleb, unlike the club requested, did not sit in the stands and was suspended the next day. On Instagram he wrote according to “Kicker” that he had simply forgotten to send a text message and explain himself.
“Certainly I made mistakes,” says Bentaleb but also. Five suspensions don’t happen accidentally. His driver’s license was revoked in autumn 2019 and he had collected 14 points in just ten months, it was said. Because he could not prove the medical-psychological examination required for this reason, the driver’s license was then gone and an appeal was rejected. That he was perceived as a problem professional had never been the case before, as he assured “Sport1”. “Before I came to Germany, I certainly didn’t have that reputation.”
But he still doesn’t hold a grudge against the soon-to-be-ex-club. “I keep my fingers crossed for Schalke and I hope for my long-time teammates and the fans that they will be promoted again.” While the royal blue future is at least immediately in the second division, it is still open where Bentaleb will go next. 26 years is not the age for a footballer, he is currently getting in shape with private training in his native Lille. There are already a few offers, Europe is the preferred destination. “Hopefully now a new chapter begins.”
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