Adel Taarabt has made ‘astonishing’ transition from flashy playmaker to crunching CDM as ex-QPR and Tottenham star shines for Benfica

Mention the name Adel Taarabt to a football fan of a certain age and watch as the corners of their mouth curl ever so slightly into a wry smile.

Faded memories of nutmegs, dragbacks and finesses shots from obscene angles have since been condensed into short video clips accompanied by a heinous Europop soundtrack.

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‘The streets will never forget’ is the phrase perhaps best attributed to the Morocco international, who seemed to have the world at his feet.

A former Tottenham starlet, Taarabt developed into a genuine superstar at Queens Park Rangers as he dazzled fans in the Championship and then the Premier League with his audacious skills and goals.

However, ill-discipline and an apparent reluctance to put the hard graft in saw both Neil Warnock and then Harry Redknapp lose patience with the playmaker, and loan spells to Fulham and Milan followed.

He then moved to Benfica in 2015 but hardly ever played, and has even been demoted to the Portuguese club's B team for large parts of his career.

However in February 2019, after seven months in the reserves, Taarabt was sent back to the senior set-up.

His Benfica B manager Bruno Lage had just been handed the first-team reins, and he called Taarabt into his squad.

On March 30, Taarabt returned to the pitch for Benfica - and he hasn't looked back since.

He's played all but four of Benfica's Primeira Liga matches this season, and has only not been named in a matchday squad on ONE occasion, due to suspension.

Lage has even experimented with Taarabt, moving the famously mercurial attacker into a defensive midfield role.

It's fair to say the difference has stunned fans.

A personal highlights package assembled by Moroccan football fanatic Maghrib Foot on Twitter from last Saturday's Benfica vs Belenenses match casts Taarabt in a completely unexpected light.

The trickery on the ball is still evident for all to see, but the 30-year-old has clearly accumulated years of experience and is finally showing the maturity and determination many felt he needed to make it right to the very top.

Sliding into tackles and effectively running the game from a quarter-back role in front of the defence, Taarabt looks like a man possessed in Lisbon.

Who knows, with a Europa League campaign still to come, it may not be too long before Premier League fans are watching Taarabt once again strut his stuff in England.