Moroccan international player Adel Taarabt has played for the first time for Benfica, almost four years after signing with the club, BBC reports. Taarabt joined his team in a match against Portuguese club Tondela on Saturday. It was the first time that Taarabt plays for Benfica, after joining the club in June 2015. After spending seven months with the reserves, Adel Taarabt joined Benfica's first-team training, in February. Taarabt, who was loaned to Italian club Genoa for 18 months, was unable to «break into» the Portuguese club's team. After returning to the club, in 2017, he was put at Benfica's reserve. According to the BBC, Taarabt's future changed due to his new coach, who joined the club in January. «He [Taarabt] started the season at the B team. I did not know him, I had heard stories about his past, but what I saw was a player who always trained well, with the intensity I like», the coach told reporters in a press conference. «I must hand him opportunities, we will see if we can create that opportunity and if he grabs it once and for all to make a career according to his potential», he added. Taarabt played before for several clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham and AC Milan. The 29-year-old midfielder has been criticized in the past by former QPR boss Neil Warnock who described him as «talented, exciting and frustrating». He made 17 appearances with the Atlas Lions.
