Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tanguy Ndombele is attracting interest in the January transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by Italian publication Corriere Dello Sport (via The Sun), who claim that in a rather big and surprising twist to the player’s future, Jose Mourinho is interested in a deal to bring the 25-year-old to the Stadio Olimpico this month, as the 58-year-old manager believes that the France international’s style of play would suit his Serie A outfit.
The report goes on to state that, although Spurs paid a club-record €60m (£53.8m) fee for the central midfielder only two-and-a-half years ago, Antonio Conte would be willing to part with Ndombele for a figure of around just €30m (£25m) this month.
Conte must axe Ndombele
Considering how much Mourinho criticised Ndombele during his own spell as the Tottenham manager, the news that the Portuguese coach is interested in signing the midfielder for his Roma side will undoubtedly come as something of a huge surprise to many of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium faithful.
Indeed, the 58-year-old coach previously said of the Frenchman: “I have to be honest, Tanguy is the kind of guy that you always expect more from than what he gives me. Because he is so talented that you always expect more. The talent is amazing.
“I think by the talent point of view, by the creation in midfield, by the vision, he is second to nobody in this moment in European football. But the feeling is that he always has more to give, he never reaches the limit of the effort, the sacrifice, even the ambition. So he is the guy I love as a player, but he frustrates me a little bit because I think he can be much better than what he is.”
And, when taking into account how little the 25-year-old has featured under the management of Conte, should Roma indeed be willing to stump up £25m for the central midfielder this winter, the Italian manager simply must sanction his sale.
Indeed, since Conte’s first game in charge of Spurs back in November last year, the £25m-rated man has played just 80 minutes of Premier League football – out of 720 minutes available.
Furthermore, over the three league fixtures these minutes have come in, the £200k-per-week midfielder will have far from impressed the 52-year-old manager, earning extremely disappointing SofaScore match ratings of 5.7, 6.4 and 6.3 against Everton, Liverpool and Crystal Palace respectively.
As such, considering his lack of game time and extremely hefty weekly wage, it would indeed appear wise for Conte to finally call time on Ndombele’s career in North London, as the player who Graham Roberts dubbed a “joke” is simply not worth the money he is costing Tottenham with each passing day.
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