Tottenham's Huge Midfield Spending, Yet Bentancur Remains the Most Indispensable

Tottenham Hotspur have invested heavily over the past year and more to solve their midfield issues, not only through transfer fees but also through the wages offered to attract these players. However, the most important midfielder right now, the player who appears essential to start, may be Rodrigo Bentancur, who has been at the club for a longer time.

The contrast between huge investment and starting-lineup reality

This summer, Tottenham signed Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United in a deal that could reach £100 million, and also brought in Mateus Fernandes from West Ham United for £85 million. In January, they beat their rivals to sign Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid for £34 million. Last summer, they bought Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig for £51.8 million, planning to use him as the No. 10, but Simons is still recovering from a knee injury.

However, after Saturday night's 0-0 away draw against Nottingham Forest, the person who received the most praise from Roberto De Zerbi was Bentancur. Tottenham took one point from the away match, earning their first league point of the season and their first clean sheet.

De Zerbi specifically praised the Uruguayan midfielder

After the match, De Zerbi described Bentancur's performance as a 'great game, a great game'. It was Bentancur's third consecutive start and his best performance of the season so far.

Throughout the match, Bentancur once again showed that no other Tottenham midfielder can do what he does. His awareness, understanding and ability to read the game faster than others were key to stopping Forest from building attacks through the middle.

Difficult to replace in receiving and distributing the ball

When Tottenham had possession and attempted to move forward, Bentancur was equally indispensable. No one is better than him at actively asking for the ball, receiving passes from the centre-backs and immediately releasing the ball to the full-backs under pressure. The original text also mentioned that in Tottenham's away match against Forest last season, Archie Gray took an extra touch in the same position, was dispossessed by Ibrahim Sangare, and Forest immediately took a 1-0 lead.

The gap between preseason expectations and reality

At the start of the season, fans may not have expected Bentancur to play such an important role. The original text is cut off at this point, but it already makes the point clear: despite Tottenham's huge investment in midfield reinforcements, the Uruguayan midfielder is becoming the most irreplaceable player in De Zerbi's squad.