Already making an appearance for Lyon since his return there on loan from Tottenham, Tanguy Ndombelé showed he can be of use for the French club in the next six months.
He was unable to stop his team from losing to AS Monaco, but his second half cameo caught the eye of a few, as the player tries to kickstart his career once again after a disappointing Spurs spell.
Falling out with both José Mourinho and Antonio Conte, Ndombélé went back to Lyon to show he still had what it takes, in view of a potential summer transfer and the 2022 World Cup beyond that, making it public in various interviews since.
It was this desire that led him to return to his former club in the first place, as the Ligue 1 side, at least at first, didn’t think a deal was possible, as Bruno Cheyrou, the head of recruiting at Lyon, admitted as much in an interview with Olympique-et-Lyonnais.
He said: “When January started, we mentioned Tanguy Ndombélé and I told myself at first it was impossible, that he would never return. But, bit by bit, with his desire to return, we managed to get him to return.”
Cheyrou also went into a bit more detail about what drove the midfielder to leave Spurs for the French side midway through the season.
He said: “Tanguy was very clear. He wants to return to play. He wants to return to prove that the managers he had at Tottenham were wrong. To show he has progressed compared to the image he left at Lyon when he left. He has an objective, and that’s to go to the France national team.”
