Nabil Bentaleb already wants to make Newcastle move permanent

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Nabil Bentaleb made his Newcastle United debut at the weekend and seemingly enjoyed himself so much, he is already thinking about a permanent move.

The midfielder joined the club last week on loan until the end of the season from Schalke, three-and-a-half years after leaving the Premier League for the Bundesliga.

Bentaleb enjoyed a bright start to his Schalke career, but last year he was dropped due to ‘disciplinary reasons’ (Schalke official).

Clearly there is some lasting ill-feeling, with Bentaleb unable to hide his desire to stay at Newcastle beyond the summer after the weekend FA Cup tie with Oxford United, which ended 0-0.

He said (Chronicle): “I want to be here next season, for the long-term, not just this season.

“I feel like I have the same ambitions as the club, and I want to be part of this club.

“It was tough [at Schalke].

“Every footballer loves playing, and unfortunately, I’ve not been playing football.

“It was a learning curve for me, and in that situation, you have to try to make something positive about it.”

TBR’s view – What Newcastle fans want to hear

Given the agent of Valentino Lazaro has suggested his client is unlikely to make his move permanent, Magpies supporters are likely to find Bentaleb’s comments somewhat refreshing.

He’s spoken very well so far and it seems as though he genuinely really wants to become a success with Newcastle.

If he can turn in some good performances, the Newcastle faithful are quickly going to take to him.

Something that’s especially big for a lot of Newcastle fans is effort level – simply getting that right will allow Bentaleb to go a long way in their eyes.