With it clear that he didn’t fall into Antonio Conte’s plans at Tottenham, Tanguy Ndombélé sought an exit from the Premier League club in January, and got it.
While many expected him to end up at Paris Saint-Germain, where he would have reunited with Mauricio Pochettino, the Spurs midfielder, in the end, returned to his former club, Lyon.
It was announced that this loan, which ends at the end of the season, would have an option to buy at €65m, although most agreed this was mostly for show, as it seemed highly unlikely that Jean-Michel Aulas would give the green light to such an expenditure, regardless of who it was for.
Since his arrival, the France international has been used a lot by Peter Bosz, and is quickly becoming a key member of the squad, which is why, according to Jeunes Footeux, an alternative to an expensive purchase is being looked at.
The website claim that because Lyon look unlikely to qualify for the Champions League after recently losing to Rennes 4-2, the Ligue 1 side are ‘trying to negotiate with Spurs an extension of the loan by one season’.
They do point out that’s all the information they have on the subject, but they do also suggest that to convince Tottenham, they could try and include an option to buy that would become compulsory under certain conditions, such as qualifying for the 2023-24 Champions League.
That last bit is just them throwing it out there, but it appears Lyon want to keep Ndombélé beyond June, and are working on something to convince Conte and co., which shouldn’t be too hard as long as they pay Ndombélé’s wages and maybe give them a bit of money up front.
