We’re not sure why, but Gazzetta dello Sport have whipped out their mean side on Thursday, writing an article about some of the bigger flops in Europe right now.
In their eyes, four of the major ones happen to have come from Ligue 1 and are struggling in their respective clubs: Ousmane Dembélé, Thomas Lemar, Nicolas Pépé and Tanguy Ndombélé.
While the first two have been with their clubs for over a year now, the latter pair haven’t, and are still in their maiden season with Arsenal and Tottenham.
Taking a look at the Ivory Coast international, they explain he’s the most expensive purchase in the history of the Gunners and African football, but has ‘lost himself’ in London.
The same applies for Tottenham’s Ndombélé, who was bought for over €60m, as his 15 starts (and seven appearances from the bench) are seen as an ‘insufficient yield’ in a Spurs side that has seen many changes since the start of the season.
Gazzetta then make the point that both Mauricio Pochettino and Unai Emery, once their new star players were bought, ‘had to build’ around them, which led to both getting fired before Christmas.
This is all a bit over the top by the Italian newspaper, as not every player will be able to adapt to a new league within the first six months, and perhaps it might be worth waiting a while longer before branding players ‘the flops of Europe’.
