Speaking on The Athletic’s latest View From The Lane podcast (March 17), Jack Pitt-Brooke has been discussing whether Tottenham Hotspur could look to offload record signing Tanguy Ndombele this summer.
What did he say?
Well, the journalist was part of the regular panel asked which players Spurs could look to move on during the next transfer window, and the Frenchman’s name was raised.
Pitt-Brooke said (32:21): “Obviously Mourinho’s got his issues with Ndombele, but if the situation this summer is that they, you know, they’re looking to sell Ndombele, Daniel Levy will want his money back. He’ll want £55m for him.
“Maybe they can get PSG paying that, but I can’t see Spurs cutting their losses on a player that good. Maybe they would loan him for a year, I don’t know. But I’d be really surprised if they just were happy to lose money on their record signing.”
What is going to happen?
It is clear to see that Ndombele just hasn’t matched up to the rigours of Premier League football yet, as many players have struggled to do in their debut seasons in England.
Having joined the club for an initial club-record fee of £53.8m and having enjoyed an impressive debut against Aston Villa in August where he found the net, there is no doubt that hopes would have been high for the midfielder.
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He failed to build on that though, with one goal and four assists in his following 26 appearances in all competitions despite being seen as something of a box-to-box player.
It seems fair to say that the 23-year-old, rated at £58.5m by Transfermarkt, deserves a full pre-season under Jose Mourinho to get himself fully fit and to try and prevent himself suffering the niggling injuries that have scuppered him this term.
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However, the Portuguese’s public criticism of the Frenchman suggests he has a lot of work to do to win his manager round.
Mourinho and Daniel Levy have a decision to make this summer.
In other Tottenham news, Charlie Eccleshare has suggested Spurs signing a 69-cap veteran this summer “feels like a possible one”…