A couple of days ago, we covered an interview Tanguy Ndombélé did with Foot Mercato about his transfer from Lyon to Tottenham in the summer, and how he could have stayed at Lyon an extra year if he’d wanted.
The midfielder has adapted rather well to the Premier League, and the website have released the second part of their chat with the France international, which touches on various aspects, like his transfer fee, José Mourinho and his adaptation to his new surroundings.
The latter, for example, was helped by the fact there already was a strong French speaking contingent at Spurs.
He said: “They’re my ‘oldies’ (laughs). Moussa Sissoko, Serge Aurier, they’re there to help me. There’s also Hugo Lloris or players like Jan Vertonghen, who’s Belgian but speaks French. It’s going well. I’m also trying to communicate in English, but that’s complicated. It’s normally through jokes. I’m trying to adapt as quickly as possible.
“[The ‘oldies’] give me advice on everything. We don’t just talk football. They advise me on life in general. Sometimes we meet outside of the club. Not all the time because they have things to do, but they advise me on many things: the Premier League, the club. I’m new here and finding my bearings. As they already have theirs, I try and follow them”.
This all came off the back of a €60m transfer from Lyon in the summer, but the price tag isn’t something the young midfielder thinks about on a daily basis.
In fact, he wasn’t that bothered about it all during the process of switching clubs, either.
He explained: “Sometimes I was interested in [the talks], others not so much. I just continued to play. It didn’t really bother me. That’s how football is. Between negotiations and the offer, there’s a whole world, which a lot of people don’t know, but for my part, that wasn’t that hard to manage.
“I don’t really care [about the €60m]. I’m not the one who paid the money. I’ve heard it all about the price. 60, 62, 70… I don’t care about those things, but I don’t have too much pressure about my price. Maybe I’m the one who doesn’t realise it, but it’s still quite the amount”.
Despite all this, the player is a bit ‘proud’ about where he is, even if he just saw the manager who brought him to the club sacked and replaced by José Mourinho.
It’s a topic Foot Mercato couldn’t avoid talking about, and they asked him how things have gone since he took over.
He said: “It’s going rather well. The manager and his assistants have just settled. He’s only been here a week (interview was done on November 27th). The way things are done change, but it’s still as hard. That’s how it is in the Premier League, things are different.
“The manager speaks French, so it’s easier to talk with him. The game against Olympiakos was my first with him. We’ll see how it goes bit by bit. It’s true that at first, it was weird to have him as manager. I wasn’t used to it. I was more used to seeing him on TV or in an interview. It was funny”.
As for what Tottenham can expect from him in the future, Ndombélé feels the club and its fans ‘haven’t seen the best of him’ yet.
Something to look forward to, then.
