Tottenham Hotspur have today confirmed the signing of Nacer Chadli from FC Twente for a fee €7 million.
The Belgian’s agent, Karim Rafiki, told the Belga news agency that his client Chadli, would pen a five-year contract for Spurs after undergoing a medical on Sunday afternoon.
Chadli becomes the latest Belgian to join the Barclays Premier League, joining the likes of Benteke, Lukaku, Hazard, Fellaini, Kompany and many many more. In an interesting era for Belgian football, Nacer Chadli is just one of the many fine wingers being produced from the country with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, Everton’s Kevin Mirallas and Driers Mertens of Napoli being notable examples.
Nacer Chadli born in Liège,Belgium is off both Belgian and Moroccan descent. He made one senior non competitive international appearance for Morocco before delving to the Belgium national team in January,2011. Chadli begun his playing career at JS Thier-à-Liège as a mere five year old. He later had spells at Standard Liège and MVV Maastricht. During his time at MVV Maastricht’s youth academy, the young Belgian shone. His impressive performance saw him contracted by Dutch second division club AGOVV Apeldoorn, who had been scouting him. During his trial at Apeldoorn, technical manager Ted van Leeuwen was mightily impressed by the teenager and was afraid bigger teams would begin to show talent in their emerging talent. A massive signal of what was to come from him.
In 2010, then aged 21, Nacer Chadli agreed to join giants FC Twente for a mere €400,000. It looked a shrewd bit of business, as the tall winger (187 cm) went on to establish himself as a first team regular. Boy did he pick a perfect time to score his first goal for his new club; a winning goal away at arch-rivals PSV Eindhoven.
Who have Tottenham signed in Chadli?
Chadli is a very direct winger. His precision, pace and trickery makes him a rare commodity. A willing runner on his day, he runs down the channels with great skill and definitiveness before inevitable scoring or making a goal for his teammates. His first touch and control is beyond brilliant, controlling passes without much effort. His technical ability, skill, vision, trickery and pace was apparent in the Dutch League over the past season.
The young Belgian also has a good shot on him, composed when one-on-one with the goalkeeper and normally precise with his long range shooting. His rigorous crosses and long range passing skill are also traits the youngster possesses.
Chadli often finds himself in the right position at the right time to score goals, almost Ruud van Nistelrooy-esque. Timing his runs expertly and finishing with aplomb. Nacer Chadli plays primarily as a winger, a left winger to be precise, but could also be utilized in the attacking midfield role. His technical ability, supreme pace and flair as well as ‘ball sense’ allows him to effectively adapt to the trequartista role whenever he’s instructed to put in a job there. Chadli’s development was held back as he missed a lot of games through injury. Getting rid of the injury-prone tag he has around his neck will prove vital in his career
Nacer Chadli had a fantastic season in the Eredivisie last year.The young winger made a total of 22 appearances for FC Twente last season, scoring 10 goals and managing 5 assists in the process. His overall tally in the Eredivisie is an impeccable 21 goals and 11 assists, not bad at all for a winger.
To sum up Chadli’s importance to the team, Twente won 65% of their Eredivisie games in which he featured, without him the Tukkers only won 25%
Chadli has also been capped on 14 occasions by his country and would have had many more caps, unfortunately for him he has the likes of Mertens, Mirallas, De Bruyne and Eden Hazard to compete with for a starting berth. Nonetheless, the young red devil could well become a key player for his national team.
At age 23, Chadli is an astute signing for Spurs, who have found them self’s wanting in the wing department on many occasions due to Lennon’s recent injury problems and Bale’s transformation into a ‘number 10’. Spurs have not only signed someone capable of filling in for others but also one of the brightest young talents in Europe, who will be a starter without a doubt.
It was no surprise to see the likes of Tottenham, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Shakhtar Donetsk, Lokomotiv Moscow and Swansea City all interested in his services, although the youngster opted to sign for Spurs.
Tottenham after already signing Brazilian star Paulinho, have been smart in the summer window so far. Chadli is a massive coup for spurs and a stroke of genius from Andre Villas- Boas. His talent is very clear to see and one can only envisage Chadli being a hit at the lane.