Despite still not being a regular starter in Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli, Tanguy Ndombélé is beginning to make a name for himself on loan from Tottenham.
The midfielder left Spurs this summer for the south of Italy after it became once again clear he wouldn’t be a part of Antonio Conte’s plans, with the Serie A side happy to bring him in on loan with an option to buy.
Whether they make the move permanent is entirely up to the Tottenham player, who could use the opportunity to get back to his former self, just like André-Frank Zambo Anguissa did when he made a similar move from Fulham.
It might not have started off great for Ndombélé, but time has helped him adapt, with him being more and more relied upon.
Coming off the bench at half time to replace Piotr Zielinski, the Tottenham loanee made the most of the opportunity, hitting the bar and picking up an assist; a lovely outstretched outside of the boot pass to Giovani Simeone for Napoli’s sixth in the 6-1 win over Ajax.
This performance earned him some praise from Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport on Wednesday, who both gave him a 7/10 for his 45 minute stint on the pitch.
The former explain the Frenchman ‘is keen to get involved in this atomic machine’, highlighting him hitting the crossbar and the assist as stand out moments, before adding that he is becoming ‘an important added value’ within the Serie A side’s squad.Corriere dello Sport state he ‘enters with authority’, is ‘growing’ and is a ‘presence that is and will be felt’, which was showcased by his ‘enchanting assist’ for Simeone in the 81st minute.
This is what Tottenham will have wanted from the loan, but it remains to be seen if Ndombélé, who has now impacted Napoli’s impressive Champions League run with a goal and an assist despite only playing for 51 minutes, can keep it going throughout the rest of the season.
