Groß confirms Bentaleb not part of his plans for Schalke
In his first official press conference as Schalke 04 trainer, Christian Groß confirmed that Nabil Bentaleb will not return to the club.
| Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
When asked whether the 26-year-old factored into his calculus for helping Schalke escape the drop, the 66-year-old gaffer bluntly answered, "No, he's not part of it."
With this succinct statement, Groß adhered to the stance taken by S04 Sporting Director Jochen Schneider. The club's executive stated that Bentaleb and the administrative apparatus could not be reconciled after the Algerian's latest suspension in November.
A highly turbulent chapter apparently draws to a close. A falling out with then-coach David Wagner saw Bentaleb benched last autumn and eventually loaned out last spring. Amenable to a fresh start, Bentaleb mended fences with the club and attained significant playing time under Manuel Baum until a new conflict erupted.
Famous German footballing voice Steffen Freund found himself in hot water some weeks back when he appeared to insinuate that Bentaleb's persistent disciplinary problems resulted from his ethnicity on the Bundesrepublik's Sunday roundtable show "Doppelpass". Freund immediately apologized.
With respect to the other players involved in the latest dust-up, Amine Harit has been reintegrated into the team, seeing action both under Baum and interim coach Hub Stevens. As planned, Vedad Ibisevic's contract will officially be terminated on Thursday.
Schalke will reportedly attempt to offload Bentaleb any way they can. The polarizing player scored 19 goals in 105 appearances for Schalke over parts of four seasons.