Sky Sports understands that Tanguy Ndombele is indeed considering his Tottenham future after less than one season at the club.
The midfielder signed from Lyon for a club-record £53.8m, fee according to BBC Sport, is said to be unsettled in the Premier League where the increased physical demands from Ligue 1 have been a major test.
Ndombele missed two matches with a hamstring strain, four matches with a groin problem, and was omitted from the matchday squad five more times. When he did play, he was subbed in 12 of 15 starts, comically unifit.
Jose Mourinho publicly criticised the 23-year-old after hooking him halfway through a 1-1 draw with Burnley in March, but Sky Sports report that there is no strain on Ndombele’s relationship with the manager or club. Form, fitness, and living alone in London during lockdown are all contributors.
If the Frenchman was having second thoughts about moving to England then apparent interest from Barcelona would only strengthen those doubts. According to Sky Sports, the Catalan giants want to sign Ndombele and have offered defenders Nelson Semedo and Samuel Umtiti to Spurs in exchange.
More on that here: Barcelona Offer Two Players To Spurs For Ndombele
But if he is leaning towards giving up at the first hurdle, rather than proving himself to Spurs fans and the wider game, then the biggest issue in Ndombele’s body is a weak psyche, and no pre-season regime can cure that.
Plenty of foreigners have struggled in their first Premier League season and some never manage to adapt. Those who did, did because they wanted to.
And that’s where I have my reservations about Ndombele.
He definitely hasn’t got it upstairs and youre right he will probably stay for the first reason.. I get it when young inexperienced foreigners may struggle. But the great players don’t ever struggle on that pitch. Ronaldo, cantona, klinsmann, zola, tevez, modric never struggled or took time to settle. They may struggle with our culture, food, weather etc but when it comes to match day they fit in like pieces of jigsaws… Even if they dont speak the language, footballs universal.. For a club record signing ndombollocks has been rubbish. No excuses for not running and fighting.
I agree that most foreign players take at least a season to adapt to the PL. The problem with N’dombele does seem to be mental as well as physical. There are two reasons that he will probably stay. Firstly, Levy will not take the financial hit to offload him. Secondly, Barca in particular, who are looking at another pay cut despite the original 70%, are not in a position to buy anyone, and that goes for many of the top European sides and no PL side will buy him.