Noel Whelan has claimed that it would take someone ‘crazy’ to take Tanguy Ndombele off Tottenham’s hands when the transfer window opens in January.
Ndombele has not been able to fulfil his promise since joining Tottenham in a big-money move from Lyon two years ago.
Antonio Conte admitted two weeks ago that the French international needs to work harder than most other players because of the talent he possesses.
The 24-year-old got his first start of the Conte era in Tottenham’s Europa Conference League clash against NS Mura last week but he was one of several players who underperformed in the 2-1 loss.
Since then, reports have emerged that Conte has asked the Spurs hierarchy to cash in on Ndombele in January and reinvest the money from his sale on new signings.
However, this claim was denied by Football.London’s Alasdair Gold, who revealed that the Tottenham head coach is yet to evaluate the midfielder fully.
Whelan has now claimed that even if Spurs wanted to cash in on Ndombele, they would find it difficult to find a buyer for him.
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When asked about the former Lyon man, the former Coventry City striker told Football Insider: “Well, there’s always some crazy people out there in January getting bargains, isn’t there?
“That’s the word, they would be crazy. But you never know, it might work. I don’t know what to do when you’ve got people like that.
“You can discipline them all you want but it’s like having a spoiled child at home. You keep telling them and telling them, they might have one good day but then they’re back to their normal self.
“What do you do with an Ndombele? You’ve got to try and get shot of him as quickly as possible. He’s earning mega money and not delivering.
“How many managers have tried with him? This is not a coincidence. This is a problem that he has that somebody else needs to deal with because Conte won’t stand for it.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I certainly do not think Ndombele has done enough to justify the transfer fee Spurs shelled out from him and the midfielder’s body language does irritate me on occasions.
However, I have to say that the narrative around him being lazy seems to have been blindly accepted by pundits even if the evidence from this season shows otherwise.
The 24-year-old is now evidently fitter than he was a year or two ago and I would it not put it beyond him to become an important player for us under Conte.
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