David Bentley has now revealed who he believes was Tottenham’s most underrated player during his time at the club.
Tottenham Hotspur have seen some truly gifted footballers pull on the shirt in recent years, though not all of them received the plaudits they perhaps deserved.
A few weeks ago, Vincent Janssen made an interesting claim about his time at Spurs. Despite playing alongside Harry Kane, the Dutchman insisted that the most talented player he shared a pitch with wasn’t the England captain.
Instead, he singled out Mousa Dembele, a man whose brilliance has been acknowledged by several of his former teammates since his departure from north London.
Dembele’s name frequently comes up when discussing Spurs’ most underrated stars, with Morgan Gibbs-White raving about Dembele a few days ago, after his name was mentioned in an interview about the Premier League players the streets won’t forget. However, Bentley has now thrown another name into the mix.
David Bentley hails Wilson Palacios as Spurs’ unsung hero
Speaking on the Off The Shelf Podcast, David Bentley was asked to name an unsung hero from his time at Spurs, and without hesitation, he pointed to Wilson Palacios.
Bentley played alongside some immensely talented footballers at Tottenham, yet it was the Honduran midfielder who stood out to him as someone who never quite got the credit he deserved.
MORE SPURS STORIES
The former Tottenham winger described Palacios as not only a quality player in midfield but also a huge presence in the dressing room, someone who commanded the respect of everyone at the club.
“A player you played with who you think was an unsung hero?” Bentley was asked.
“What, across the board or just at Tottenham? Just at Spurs. Wilson Palacios,” Bentley responded.
“He was an unsung hero.”
“Great shout,” the host replied.
“Because what a player he was in midfield.
“He was fully respected in the dressing room, but obviously everyone else got all the plaudits. He was a good guy as well.”
Tottenham’s midfield needs a player like Palacios or Dembele
Spurs could certainly do with a few players in the mould of Palacios and Dembele in their midfield right now.
While a lot of Tottenham’s struggles this season have been blamed on an early injury crisis, there’s no denying that their midfield has been a problem area.
So far this campaign, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur have struggled to hit their best form, and for those of us who were fortunate enough to watch Dembele dominate the middle of the park, the drop-off has been glaring.