It’s very clear that Tottenham’s decision to purchase Tanguy Ndombélé from Lyon has completed backfired in London.
The midfielder has never been able to live up to the expectations of his huge fee, and has been lambasted by more than one manager since his arrival.
Antonio Conte has never been a fan of him since arriving at Tottenham, which has led to the Frenchman first being loaned back to Lyon before returning and then heading straight back out to Napoli.
This season has actually gone rather well for him, but it doesn’t appear to have been enough to convince Cristiano Giuntoli and Aurelio De Laurentiis to open their chequebook at the end of the season.
The loan to Naples came with an option to buy at around €25-30m, but Area Napoli report that the Serie A side will ‘almost certainly not’ keep the player beyond his current contract.
That’s why he is ‘destined to return’ to Tottenham, and that ‘regardless of the sometimes positive performance’ when called upon by Luciano Spalletti.
The problem has been the fact he hasn’t been able to find the ‘right continuity’ with his displays, and the ‘costs of the operation’ required to keep him at the club ‘appear too high’.