Nowhere near Antonio Conte’s plans at Tottenham last summer, Tanguy Ndombélé was sent to Napoli for the season.
It went well, without any special happening, but despite there being an option to buy of €30m in his loan, it was never triggered and the Frenchman returned to Spurs.
Now, he might have a chance to impress at Tottenham again, as L’Equipe have an article on the former Lyon star, looking at what the future holds for him.
They look back at his struggles since his arrival in England, and explain that while his spell in Italy wasn’t as prolific as both he and Spurs would have wanted it to, Napoli still wanted to buy him permanently, but at a reduced price.
The newspaper state those in charge of the Serie A club ‘wanted to spend €20m’ and wanted ‘a few weeks before renegotiating the option to buy’.
While there were ‘few chances’ of seeing Ndombélé in a Tottenham shirt a few weeks ago, the arrival of Ange Postecoglou has changed matters quite a lot.
It’s said the ex-Celtic manager is a ‘long time admirer’ of the midfielder, and he ‘intends to leave a space’ in his 4-3-3 formation for the player if he ‘confirms this good impression in the pre-season games’.
With a contract until 2025, there’s little to lose here, as a surge under Postecoglou could finally justify the price Tottenham initially paid for him (€60m).
However, if he fails to impress, ‘there will be opportunities in Europe’, but also elsewhere, as his profile ‘interests the Saudi market’.
