Fabrizio Romano provides update on Ndombele’s situation at Tottenham

Tanguy Ndomble has experienced a difficult first year at Tottenham Hotspur after becoming the club’s record signing.

The French international swapped Lyon for London in a £53.8million deal in July of last year (BBC).

After scoring on his Premier League debut against Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, his season was troubled by both injury and a lack of form (transfermarkt).

His work rate was also criticised after his performance against Burnley in March by Jose Mourinho (talkSPORT), which was also backed up by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher who labelled the 23-year-old’s lack of effort as a disgrace.

Ndombele’s future at Tottenham has been the subject of intense speculation over the summer with the club said to have held talks with Inter Milan over a possible transfer which would see the North Londoners make a loss on their record signing (Guardian).

Respected football journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Ndombele is happy to stay and fight for his place in Jose Mourinho’s side and is not desperate to leave, however he is prepared to depart if a suitable bid is made.

Romano told the Last Word on Spurs podcast (10:22): “I think the situation at the minute is that if Tottenham will keep him, he will fight for Tottenham and he is not trying to leave the club.

“If an important bid is made, he will not refuse and is prepared to leave. He will be very respectful of Tottenham’s decision and it is a particular situation because the board of Tottenham is convinced that Ndombele is a top player.

“He has had a season which is not at his level for his skills and the real problem is that Jose Mourinho is not so happy with the mentality of Ndombele, not the technical part it is just the mentality and he wants more from Ndombele.

“The club do not want to sell him, but Jose wants the club to consider some possible bids. For example, Inter Milan were trying to sign him two or three weeks ago and had a new contact with Tottenham after July to try a swap deal with Milan Skriniar, they were considering this opportunity and Inter offered a simple swap deal without any fee for Skriniar but Tottenham do not want to accept this kind of bid. Instead, they also want €20 or £30million to sell Ndombele with Skriniar as part of the deal.

“I think this summer, the Ndombele situation will be particular because the club do not want to sell him. Daniel Levy was so happy one year ago after he signed Ndombele and is convinced he can have a top second season as a Tottenham player but Jose wants more.

“We will have to see if another club arrives with a bid or if Inter will try again.”