Journalist provides update on the future of Tottenham’s Tanguy Ndombele

Ben Jacobs has reported that Tanguy Ndombele’s future is still up in the air, despite Napoli having the option to sign him permanently in the summer. 

Spurs have long since waved goodbye to recouping anywhere close to the fee they paid for the Frenchman, with Ndombele joining from Lyon for a club-record £63 million in 2019 (Sky Sports).

It was reported recently by Il Mattino (via Forza Azzurri) that Napoli want to make the move permanent, with Foot Mercato adding that talks between the Serie A club and Spurs will take place soon, which was reinforced by the Daily Mail. 

However, Ben Jacobs has now reported that, although Spurs expected the £26.4m option to buy to be triggered when they agreed the loan last year, Ndombele’s future is now less certain.

He said (Last Word on Spurs Podcast): “I think with Ndombele it’s a case of mixed intel to be perfectly honest with you.

“A few people might have seen over the course of last 24, 48 hours a bit of a fallout there, and that might alter the situation. He’s obviously at a club in great form at the moment, he’s played I think 14 [15] games in Serie A. That comes off the back of that loan spell at Lyon that he had as well.

“So, we’re going to have to wait and see on that one whether or not Napoli choose to exercise their option to buy, which I believe it set at around €30m [£26.4m].

“I think that when that deal was done, I was always told that Tottenham were relatively confident that the option to buy was going to be activated. The situation at the moment with Ndombele is genuinely still unclear, certainly from people that I speak to.”

This comes after Ndombele’s 20-minute cameo against Sampdoria last week, in which Luciano Spalletti did not seem happy with his work rate after the final whistle.

Spurs Web Opinion:

I would be surprised if no club took a punt on Ndombele for the sake of £20m. He has so much natural talent and surely there is a manager out there who can give him a free role and take advantage of that.

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