The 27-year-old has joined West Bromwich Albion for big money, but statistics show he had his moments at Tottenham Hotspur, particularly in front of goal.
Tottenham’s Nacer Chadli celebrates scoring
Tottenham have sold Nacer Chadli to West Bromwich Albion, another of the magnificent seven that they bought in the summer of 2013, when they sold Gareth Bale, and despite a disappointing end to his career in North London, he is a player Spurs have to try and replace before the end of the transfer window.
And for West Brom fans, it is an indication of what they can look forward to.
Because in Chadli’s three years at White Hart Lane he scored 25 goals in 119 matches (better than one in five). By comparison, Christian Eriksen has 30 in 134 (only marginally better) and Erik Lamela 18 in 110. He has been a consistent goal threat every season at the club, and was the second top scorer with 13 (11 in the Premier League) in the 2014-15 season – only Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart have scored more from midfield or wide areas in a season since Paul Gascoigne in 1991.
Nacer Chadli in action with Manchester United’s Luke Shaw
Last season, Chadli netted seven from just 19 starts (40 overall matches) – a step down from the year before but proof that he remained a goal threat. It was also noticeably higher than Tottenham’s other first choice attacking midfielders: Dele Alli scored ten in 36 starts (46 overall), Christian Eriksen eight in 44 starts (47 overall). Heung-Min Son, another player who has been linked with an exit, scored eight in 22 starts (40 overall), a marginally lower goalscoring rate considering starts but with one more strike from the same number of total matches played.
Chadli certainly had moments where he helped Spurs to points last season, something the promising Josh Onomah has been unable to do so far, and the incoming Georges-Kevin Nkoudou can’t be relied on to provide.
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (L)
These two players may become important attacking options for Tottenham, but with Champions League football on the horizon, the club will have to consider bringing in another midfielder who can be a proven goal threat from various positions.
The former Twente star seemed to indicate that he could offer something from the bench after coming on against Crystal Palace in January, with Pochettino’s side 1-0 behind. Chadli impressed as a starter in 2014-15, but was sensational in that 30 minutes off the bench at Selhurst Park, with a great cross for Harry Kane and then a fabulous long range strike in stoppage time that is sadly often forgotten because of the brilliance of Dele Alli’s goal of the season minutes before.
Nacer Chadli celebrates scoring the third goal for Tottenham
Chadli also scored the equaliser in a home match against Swansea after arriving as a substitute, and at that point seemed to have moved into a role of a player who could change things up when the club were desperately looking for a goal.
But things would change in the next match. There were murmurs on social media that Pochettino was disappointed with Chadli’s performance during the 1-0 loss to West Ham, where the Belgian was poor with his marking of Hammers winger Michail Antonio as the newly called up England man scored a header.
The West Ham game would be Chadli’s last start for the club, and though he would appear from the bench for the last nine games of the season, no appearance was longer than 24 minutes, and the player tended to struggle to make any impression whatsoever in those last few matches.
Tottenham’s Nacer Chadli comes on as a substitute to replace Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min
Pochettino is unlikely to have made a decision about the player from one game, and Spurs fans would have to be honest and admit the whole team were poor on their last visit to the Boleyn Ground. The Belgium international’s inability to replicate his earlier influence in the remaining matches of the season, leading to him being dropped by the Red Devils for the European Championships squad, seemed to convince Pochettino to consider other options, and arguably may have done the same for Chadli himself.
Of course, the 27-year-old had his faults at Spurs, often much less suited to flourishing in Pochettino’s pressing tactics, but he had a knack of finding the net despite not always being a central figure in a game.
Tottenham would be taking a big risk if they don’t bring in an attacking midfielder who has managed to make double figures in goals at some point in their career. For West Brom, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Chadli becomes a key man and a major attacking influence.
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