A few Newcastle United fans have loved a recent post on Twitter shared by the club, showing January arrival Nabil Bentaleb in training ahead of his potential debut this weekend in the FA Cup.
Head coach Steve Bruce welcomed Bentaleb to St. James’ Park as his first winter arrival earlier in the week, with the Algerian signing on loan for the remainder of the 2019/20 campaign.
The club were able to agree an option-to-buy clause with his parent club FC Schalke 04, which could see Bentaleb become a permanent Toon midfielder for €10million (£8.4m) come the end of the season.
Bentaleb has not played any first-team football this season having been shunned at the Veltins Arena by former Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner, so will need time to regain his match sharpness.
Should Bentaleb start vs Oxford in the FA Cup?
Yes
No
Bruce has already integrated the 25-year-old to the first-team fold in training at Darsley Park, so Bentaleb could feature in some capacity when we host Oxford United in the FA Cup this Saturday afternoon.
The club have shared shots of Bentaleb in training at Darsley Park on Thursday via their official social media feeds, which sent some Toon fans crazy.
Here are a few of the messages shared in response…
yessssss😍
— 🇧🇷 (@JoeLintoNUFC) January 23, 2020
Sexy
— Freddi Gourley (@FreddiGourley) January 23, 2020
@billyrouse7 nabil 😍
— Tiernan West (@Tiernan_West) January 23, 2020
Baller 😍 beat signing this window
— Billy Rouse (@billyrouse7) January 23, 2020
my central midfielder ❤️
— Lewis Russ (@LewisRuss1) January 23, 2020
Nice!
Now tell penfold we NEED a LB and somebody who can put the ball in the net please. Cheers— adam barrass (@TheMadMagpie86) January 23, 2020
In other Newcastle United news, the club are reportedly ready to offer a £60k-p/w outcast a chance to escape his fringe status with a move to St. James’ Park.