Luciano Spalletti has hinted that Tottenham Hotspur made a mistake by deciding to loan Tanguy Ndombele to Napoli last summer.
Although Ndombele has shown glimpses of his raw talent in Naples, he has primarily been used as a squad player this season and has struggled to break into the club’s starting eleven.
There have been mixed reports emanating from Italy over the last month regarding whether the Serie A club plan to take up the £30m option to buy the midfielder permanently.
Area Napoli reported in February that the Frenchman seems destined to return to Spurs at the end of the season after failing to impress at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
However, this claim was contradicted by CalcioNapoli24, who suggested two weeks ago Luciano Spalletti’s men would consider signing the midfielder if the price is right.
Spalletti himself has now hinted that Ndombele has won him over since arriving at the club and suggested that Spurs might have made an error by letting him leave.
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The Napoli boss told TuttoMercatoWeb: “Ndombele is a strong player. At the beginning, I didn’t know him much. There was the doubt [about] why Tottenham had let him leave.
“From what I saw, watching the Milan-Tottenham match, from what I know I would have seen him well inside. He’s someone I train willingly, he’s also a very sweet boy.
“Physically strong, in the modernity of football there is this physical strength to include which is important.
“He has strength, engine, technique [and] flashes in which he sees where the hole is. I like him, as they say in Tuscany.”
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It sounds like Napoli are planning on activating the option to sign Ndombele permanently.
Even if the Serie A club ask Spurs for a discount, I suspect that the North London club will be happy to negotiate as they would want to get the Frenchman off their wage bill.
The only way things could change is if Pochettino returns to Tottenham and decides to give the 26-year-old a lifeline.
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