Tanguy Ndombele has revealed that while he was keen to prove his worth to Antonio Conte, the Italian told him on the first day that he was not part of his plans.
Ndombele was loaned out to Lyon in January of last year, just two months after Conte had joined the club and the midfielder played no part in Tottenham’s pre-season when he returned last summer, being shipped off to Napoli on a season-long loan deal.
The Frenchman has shown glimpses of his quality in his spell in Naples so far, even though he has struggled to get starts under his belt.
Area Napoli reported two weeks ago that while the Serie A club do not plan on activating the option to buy Ndombele permanently for €28m (£24.7m) this summer, they are expected to negotiate a deal with Spurs for the midfielder.
The 26-year-old has admitted that he is unsure about what the future holds for him at the end of the season.
Ndombele told So Foot (as relayed by Gianluca Di Marzio): “I don’t know what my future will be, many fans ask me to return to Tottenham but the clubs will decide and Napoli have the option to buy.
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“I don’t mind being on loan here but sometimes I see footballers being treated more like commodities than people.”
The midfielder clarified that he did not have any choice but to leave Spurs as Conte made it clear to him early on that he is not in his plans.
Ndombele added: “There was no other solution with Tottenham and I’m happy I chose Napoli.
“With Conte, there was no choice, I would have liked to demonstrate my value on the pitch but I was on the edge of the group.
“It was communicated to me from the first day of training with the team.”
Spurs Web Opinion
One cannot rule out the possibility that the likes of Ndombele, Lo Celso, Winks and Reguilon would be handed a lifeline at Spurs by the new manager.
Whoever it is that replaces Conte, one would perhaps expect him to perhaps take a closer look at these players during pre-season before making a decision on their futures.
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