Andros Townsend returned to White Hart Lane for the first time on Saturday since leaving the club where he spent 16 years. The winger, now of Crystal Palace, was greeted warmly but few Tottenham hotspur supporters regret his exit last January.
Townsend is one of a long list of senior players sold by Mauricio Pochettino during his two years at Tottenham and fans have, by and large, backed the manager -- particularly when it became clear he was building the most exciting Spurs squad for two decades. Emmanuel Adebayor, Younes Kaboul, Etienne Capoue, Aaron Lennon, Paulinho and Co. are not missed by many at Tottenham.
The latest player to get the Townsend treatment still has the support of a significant section of the Spurs fanbase, however. Nabil Bentaleb is expected to leave the club before next week's transfer deadline after Pochettino revealed the midfielder is "waiting to find a place away from Tottenham." Bentaleb has been training with the club's under-21s since returning to preseason and he was left out of the trip to Australia, where Pochettino confirmed he was not part of his plans for the new season.
"He is not with the first team because he wanted to leave. I think I explained very well. If he wanted to leave, he can come and see me, I say 'OK you can leave,'" Pochettino said last week.
The manager's decision is, at the very least, puzzling for supporters because -- unlike Townsend and the rest -- Bentaleb boasts an impressive run of performances for the club under Pochettino. In the Argentine's first season, he formed a midfield partnership with Ryan Mason, starting 25 league matches as Spurs finished fifth. Behind Harry Kane, he was Tottenham's best player and his performances in the 2-1 derby win against Arsenal in February 2015 and the 2-0 League Cup final defeat to Chelsea remain memorable.
Bentaleb began last season with the ink drying on a new five-year contract, but injuries and the rises of Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Mousa Dembele restricted him to two league starts, both in August.
Spurs have strengthened with the signing of midfielder Victor Wanyama from Southampton but a feeling remains among supporters that Bentaleb, who is still just 21, is a huge talent and a better option than either Mason or Tom Carroll, who did not convince last season.
The departure of academy graduate Bentaleb could also be confusing for his teammates. Last month, SpursTV asked the players a series of quick-fire questions about preseason. Bentaleb was named as the player who loves preseason the most, beating Erik Lamela by five votes to two, and the player who runs the furthest in training, pipping Dele Alli nine to four -- although in both cases the Algeria international voted for himself.
Who enjoys pre-season the most!? �������� Find out and see who votes for himself at the end... #COYShttps://t.co/w0xuc9wgM0
- Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 18, 2016
If not quite a show of solidarity for an unwanted teammate, the answers indicated that Bentaleb is a popular member of the group and widely respected for his approach to training.
After leading Spurs to the highest-ever Premier League finish and a first title-push since the 1980s, Pochettino has earned the right to make, in his words, "hard decisions," and his ruthless shaping of the Spurs squad has created a "brotherhood" that money cannot buy, according to Harry Kane.
Questioned last week, Pochettino was reluctant to go into detail about why Bentaleb has gone from a shining symbol of his "philosophy" to a spare part. "The rule is very clear: if you are not part of my plans, why are you training with us? He understands very well, like any other player. It is not a big issue, not a problem. Sometimes it looks like a big, big issue, but it is very normal in football," he said.
However, if Bentaleb fulfils his promise elsewhere, and Spurs do not reach the heights of last season, Pochettino may find himself having to justify his ruthless approach to shaping the squad for the first time.