Nabil Bentaleb Was Tottenham's Most Surprisingly Disappointing Player in 2015/16

Nabil Bentaleb finished the 2014/15 season as a central part of Mauricio Pochettino's exciting young squad. 

Having helped Tottenham Hotspur finish in a surprising fifth place, pipping Liverpool on the final day, the Algeria international would have been expected to lead them into the new campaign. 

As the midfield counterpart to fellow academy graduate-turned international Harry Kane in the Spurs attack, Bentaleb had shown—in more than 50 appearances in his first two seasons—that he possessed the makings of a world-class player. 

He started on the opening day of the new season at Old Trafford. But after giving away possession that led to Manchester United's winning goal, Pochettino hauled him off after half-time as the Spurs chased the equaliser. 

While that would have been embarrassing enough, Bentaleb played fewer than 180 minutes in the remainder of 2015. 

In those brief appearances, he struggled to find the rhythm that had so impressed in the previous season and, by the end of the campaign, he had made just 12 appearances. He was booked as many times as he started a match—five.

The 21-year-old failed to score a goal and tallied just one assist, that coming in the 4-1 FA Cup fourth-round win against Colchester United. 

The injury problems that Bentaleb suffered were central to his disappointing season. He missed 134 days of this season through injury, according to Transfermarkt. 

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The knee injury suffered while playing for the Spurs' under-21 squad was particularly galling. Having asked permission to play in a bid to regain his fitness, according to Dan Kilpatrick of ESPN FC, Bentaleb was struck down with a season-ending affliction. 

Not only did he miss large parts of the season—17 games and six respectively to ankle and knee problems—his absences gave his team-mates ample opportunity to seize his place. 

Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele each excel in one aspect of central-midfield play, and when combined, they formed England's finest partnership in Bentaleb's absence. 

Pochettino acknowledged to Kilpatrick in March that "the team grew up and different players had the possibility to play and show quality."

Having surrendered his first-team place, Bentaleb is now being regularly linked with a permanent departure. This would be hugely disappointing. 

Back in early 2014, Bentaleb became the first of Tottenham's current crop of youth players to break into the first team. Having shown immense promise in the youth teams, he was handed his Premier League debut by former manager Tim Sherwood and quickly nailed down a starting place. 

He blossomed in Pochettino's first season and formed an exciting partnership with Ryan Mason. His defining performance came in the 2-1 home win against Arsenal when he led the team's dominant display. 

While this season has been an immense disappointment for Bentaleb, there is no doubting his talent. 

If Dier and Dembele are two sides of the midfield coin, the one-time France under-19 player is the Janus in that he possesses both faces. The equal of either on his best days, Bentaleb also has a passing range that exceeds both. 

Still only 21, he has plenty of time to return to his best and exceed it. Having signed a new deal last season, he is contracted through 2020. Reports that he could be sold are seemingly misguided. 

Bentaleb was reportedly frustrated by delays to that contract extension, and Pochettino was displeased by his behaviour, according to SB Nation.

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Pochettino has swiftly removed troublemakers from his squads before at Tottenham and Southampton, so this speculation was not entirely unfounded. But, if Bentaleb can put this annus horribilis behind him, he can again be a valuable member of the squad. 

If Tottenham do countenance the sale of one of their brightest academy products, they will likely be left to rue that decision for a decade or more as Bentaleb is destined for the top.