In 2019, Tottenham Hotspur made a record signing when they spent £63-million for Olympique Lyonnais midfielder Tanguy Ndombele. Fast forward two and half years, and the 25-year-old is returning to Lyon on a loan deal after failing to live up to the transfer fee for the north London club.
Ndombele arrives on a loan deal with a fee of €1.42 million, accompanied by a purchase option. Sky Sports News’ Paul Gilmour summed up the failed move to north London, which he began by saying that it was a move filled with promise.
“It was a partnership that was once so full of promise. Tottenham fans rejoiced on the 2 July 2019 as a club-record signing announcement was made,” Gilmour said.
“Ndombele was to be the answer in a midfield with a large Mousa Dembele-shaped hole. It was an exciting signing and offered fresh hope that Daniel Levy was ready for a rebuild.
Gilmour highlighted a friendly caused some excitement for Ndombele’s arrival. However, he states that following the initial high, what followed would be regression and disappointment.
“His first touch was an assist in a friendly closely followed by his first Premier League goal, on debut against Aston Villa. It was as good as it got, despite glimpses of his talent in sporadic periods,” Gilmour wrote.
“What followed was not progress but disappointment and fast forward two and a half years, and four managers – five if we include interim Ryan Mason – Ndombele will soon depart without fulfilling his promise.”
Finally, Gilmour addressed the lowest point in Ndombele’s tenure with Tottenham, where former manager Jose Mourinho questioned his commitment to being a team player. The Portuguese tactician would be one of three managers with the Premier League side to get the most out of Ndombele.
“A particular low was being left out of the League Cup final by Mason while Jose Mourinho was publicly critical after a game at Burnley, questioning his commitment to being a team player. Mourinho worked hard with him, but any step forward was followed by two back,” Gilmour wrote.
Of all the things I would consider N’belly may have been full of, ‘promise’ was certainly not one of them.
Adebayor ?
“He’s a baller”. Never want to see his mush at Tottenham. Simpson episode where Homer purposely puts on weight sums up Ndombele reign.
Dr. Nick: And remember, if you’re not sure about something, rub it against a piece of paper. If the paper turns clear, it’s your window to weight gain.
to be fair you did get quite a lot of him for your money:)
Agreed
It’s been a bad window again. 2 in 4 out. The two in aren’t a significant upgrade to what we already had, to be honest I think we are weaker than when the window started.
Conte Evaluated the squad and was very clear, we all knew what he wanted, a left footed centre back, a right wing back, an attacking central creative midfielder and a striker. So Levy with the help of Paratici goes and buys him a winger and another defensive midfielder, nothing like what Conte asked for, they only got those two because of Paratici’s links to Juve.
Every window is the same, Levy makes out he’s making offers for all these top players, big money offers, knowing full well they won’t sign or come. And every window we end up signing average players at best. But it’s all OK because Levy’s made another profit in the window and all the Spurs fans have been fooled into believing it’s been a great window for us.
The true Spurs fans will make themselves heard at the next home game and will be calling for Levy and Lewis to get out of OUR club.
Full of something….
Pound for pound, probably the worst signing we’ve ever made