Dimitar Berbatov has claimed club-record signing Tanguy Ndombele is ‘fighting a losing battle with Mourinho’ afer the Spurs star has struggled under the new head coach.
The former Spurs striker admitted the French midfielder may find himself having to force a transfer through this summer if his situation looks unlikely to change in North London.
“Ndombele was brought in under Mauricio Pochettino and it is normal for a new manager to shake things up. Maybe Mourinho thinks the Frenchman doesn’t fit into his system,” the former Bulgarian international wrote in his latest column for Betfair.
“I was in a similar situation at Leverkusen. We changed managers three times and I needed to prove myself to each one, show them that I deserved to play.”
Ndombele had struggled for game time since the restart of the Premier League following the COVOD-19 lockdown period and played just 64 minutes of action in six matches before his season was ended with injury (transfermarkt).
He added: “You have these situations where you need to fight for your place and show the boss that he has made the wrong decision. Sometimes, you can change the mind of a manager – I was lucky enough to do that at Spurs – but sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do, a manager just might not like you.
“Ndombele has been linked with Bayern Munich and, if Mourinho continues to leave him out and the player doesn’t want to sit on the bench, then he should move for sure. If he wants to stay and fight, he needs to be realistic and know that he has a chance to change the manager’s mind, and that he isn’t fighting a losing battle with Mourinho.”
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Mourinho confirmed on Wednesday that Ndombele suffered another injury during Monday’s training session which will see him miss the remainder of this season (Football.London).
The midfielder has been linked with a move to Barcelona this summer but it has recently been reported Spurs will reject any approach from the Catalan giants (Daily Star).
Spurs Web Opinion
These are strong words from Berba, but I hope Ndombele stays for next season and proves his doubters wrong. For that to happen, he must be given the chance by Mourinho. There is no hiding from his poor fitness and at times poor attitude, but surely he deserves a proper chance to prove himself to have changed?
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