He was never really in direct competition but we only have so many midfielders, Alli has come in and it seems Paulinho, Capoue, Holtby and Stambouli could go. Also I don't think Bentaleb has signed a new contract yet. If he's having showdown talks then this strengthens his hand. I'd love to see him get more games, in fact I think he's the only one who can play the Eriksen role if he's not available. Got the ability just needs to show it. On a serious point Poch surely wouldn't have let so many midfielders go if was planning on not using Dembele.I'm not sure if thats meant to be funny lol.