Newcastle United closing in on former Tottenham midfielder

Premier League side Newcastle United are closing in on the loan signing of former Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb from Bundesliga giants Schalke. 

The Algerian international is at the Tyneside club for a medical and will join the Magpies until the end of the season. The deal could be made official any time soon. 

The 25-year-old left Spurs for the German club in 2017 and became a regular in the Blues side initially. 

However, he has been relegated to the reserves this season by former Huddersfield head coach David Wagner. 

Wagner is doing an excellent job with the Gelsenkirchen-based club this campaign and Bentaleb looks surplus to requirements for them. This has opened the way for him to revive his career on a loan deal. 

In December, Bentaleb commented on his situation: “The situation with the club is a bit complicated at the moment. 

“That's no secret. To be concrete, they don't want me to train with the first-team squad or to be associated with the squad in any way.” 

Magpies boss Steve Bruce is also close to finalising a loan deal for versatile wide man Valentino Lazaro from Inter Milan. 

The Austrian’s agent was been seen at the St. James’ Park before Newcastle’s dramatic 1-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday. And, Bruce has publicly stated that the move will be completed in the next two days. 

He said: “His agent was at St James’ Park at the weekend and we hope we can develop it. Unfortunately, when it gets out like it does, it adds to the competition so we’ll see what the next 24 or 48 hours bring.” 

Bruce also admitted he could be forced to sign another left-back after both Jetro Willems and Paul Dummett were ruled out for the season. 

On-loan Dutch international Willems ruptured his ACL against Chelsea and it looks like he might have played his last game for the Magpies. 

Bruce is a big admirer of Willems and was hopeful of signing him on a permanent deal but the Dutchman has now returned to parent club Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany. 

And, they have been handed another big blow with the news that Dummett will also not play again this season after hobbling off against Wolves earlier this month with a tendon injury. 

Bruce added: “In that respect, it’s been a bad weekend. We’ve been unfortunate. 

"Maybe yes, we have to do something now. Matt Ritchie played there on Saturday, but he’s just back after four months out. 

“We’ll have a look in that particular area. It’s unfortunate because Jetro was settling in well and adapting to life in the Premier League. 

"Because of what’s just happened, we’re short in that area, we might have to look and see if we can do anything in the short term. We’ll see who’s out there."

Featured Image Credits - The Guardian