Tottenham Hotspur’s new record signing, Tanguy Ndombele, has been a hit with the fans so far this season, despite only playing a handful of games for the club.
Ndombele has played 10 games in all competitions so ar this campaign, already scoring two goals and assisting a further three (Transfer Markt).
In the 2018/19 season for Lyon, Ndombele managed three goals and eight assists in 49 games, which seems to imply that his playstyle is ideally suited to the Premier League (Transfer Markt).
Ndombele has often lined up as a holding midfielder, either in a three with Moussa Sissoko and Harry Winks, or a two with either one of them.
However, Pochettino has now claimed that, although he is happy with what Tanguy brings to the team, he may not be able to truly assess him for another one to two years.
Poch claims that sometimes it takes new players 18 to 24 months to truly settle and play their best football, pointing to Heung Min Son and Moussa Sissoko as examples.
Poch said (Football London): “We assess the players when they are consistent. It’s difficult to assess when they play well or not so well, because you need to put everything in [context of] the competition, the opponents, the level of your teammates, the form. Still, we cannot assess him enough to say he is doing well or not so well. For me it’s fantastic the things he adds to the team, I am so happy with him like I am so happy with different players.
“Still for me, when you sign a player, despite the amount you pay, with the profile of Tanguy Ndombele or Giovani Lo Celso or Ryan Sessegnon you need minimum one year and a half, or two years. Look at what happened with Son or Sissoko, they started to perform in year two, year three. That is why when you are so young … today the market is the market, you cannot judge the player because you paid some kind of amount. He played two years in Lyon and moved to England where everything is new, but the quality is there. They need time to show their real quality.”
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