French newspaper L’Equipe report on Friday that Tottenham Hotspur and Marseille reached a transfer agreement on Georges-Kevin Nkoudou six days ago. That agreement is simply sitting there, waiting to be finalised and announced.
At the same time, the Clinton N’Jie issue changes daily. First he didn’t want to leave Tottenham, then he was persuaded to do so and Marseille was the destination, then Arsenal made a late attempt, and now there have been claims N’Jie’s former club Lyon are making an attempt too.
But L’Equipe say Marseille have a card to play which others do not – The Nkoudou card.
The strange thing here is that Marseille don’t really hold all the power. A fee has been agreed, the player has agreed to join Tottenham, and Marseille, as ever, would quite like the transfer fee.
If Marseille have decided to play hard ball, over the Clinton N’Jie link, then it would be a total change in character, and something it’d be hard to see Tottenham putting up with.
Marseille’s Vincent Labrune has overseen many players leave Marseille, often for less than market value, or even free. The club has been pushed into a terrible corner, and he leaves his job on Monday, having overseen one of the most farcical periods at a French club in living memory.
There’s surely no way Daniel Levy and Tottenham dance to Labrune’s tune. Nkoudou could now be training with his new teammates, Marseille should be mindful not to push things too far.
