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‘A weird one’: Pundit shares what really surprised him about ‘incredible’ £35m Tottenham player last season

Darren Bent has admitted that he found it really weird how Yves Bissouma could not get into the Tottenham Hotspur team last season, insisting that he has been incredible so far this term.

Bent was speaking on after Spurs’ really impressive start to the campaign, during which the Mali international has been one of the standout performers for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Time is not doing Antonio Conte’s tenure at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium many favours. And one of the biggest errors of the Italian’s spell, in hindsight, was his reluctance to rely on Yves Bissouma.

AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League
Photo by Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images

Bissouma arrived having established himself as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League while at Brighton. And yet, it appeared that he was going to be such a disappointing signing for Spurs. The club could end up paying for the 27-year-old.

Bent amazed by Bissouma form for Tottenham so far this season

He only made 10 league starts for Tottenham last season. And that is looking particularly remarkable based on how he has started life under Ange Postecoglou.

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - Premier League
Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images

Bissouma has been unbelievable so far this term. And Bent is clearly delighted to see that he is now getting the chance to remind everyone of what he can do.

“Bissouma’s a weird one, because when they got him, I thought yeah. Obviously he’d suffered quite a bad injury. He had that ankle fracture. So he was out for a fair bit last year,” he told .

“But this season, he just looks incredible. It always surprised me when they signed and didn’t play him. I thought why are you not playing him? But now, he’s a ball player, he gets the ball off the back. He’s one of them, he’s a holding midfield player, but he’s not one of those who just passes sideways and backwards. There is a bit of risk to him.”

Tuesday night’s defeat to Fulham in the Carabao Cup further highlighted the importance of Bissouma. The midfielder was an unused substitute at Craven Cottage.

The likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp did not have the best evening. So that partnership between Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr is going to be hugely important for Spurs this season.

And it really is a cliche, but Bissouma does feel like a completely new signing for Tottenham this term. He certainly looks completely different to the player who struggled so much during his first year at North London.