A section of Tottenham fans have raved about Tanguy Ndombele after his dazzling performance for Lyon in their 2-1 Champions League win at Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Spurs were strongly linked with the central midfielder this summer and L’Equipe reported in their print edition on 2 September that chairman Daniel Levy was willing to table a £40.3million bid but Lyon won the race to sign him permanently from SC Amiens after a successful one-year loan.
Many Tottenham fans are exasperated their club did not sign the 21-year-old.
This Is Futbol has rounded up some of the best tweets below.
COMMENTARY:
NDombele doesn’t just sound like Mousa Dembele. He plays like him, too. A central midfielder who combines grit with guile, the Frenchman is powerful, technically strong and able to dominate in the centre of the pitch. Spurs fans watching him light up Etihad Stadium last night and put Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan and even the feted David Silva in the shade were left thinking ‘if only’. Certainly, the 21-year-old looks a rising star of European football. He made an excellent impression while on loan at Lyon last season and completed a permanent move to the Ligue 1 big hitters from second-tier Amiens over the summer. Spurs were reported in France to be firmly in the race amid widespread speculation of a mega bid from Levy. It didn’t happen in what was an immensely frustrating transfer window for the club, and the team are left with major issues to solve in central midfield.
Ndombele showing tonight in the Champions League exactly the reason why Tottenham Hotspur should have looked to snap the midfielder up when we had the chance in the summer just passed us.
Would have been the perfect dominant player to have in the middle of the park.#THFC #COYS
— Ricky Sacks ? (@RickySacks) September 19, 2018
I don't want much French football and love Dembele but getting a replacement lined up would be great. Swap deal for Sissoko and Llorente?
— Rory (@Rory4Spurs) September 19, 2018
Too easy Ricky, spend the season pinpointing good individual performances and saying "Why oh why didn't we sign him?"
— Frank (@sw19fh) September 19, 2018
With bids like £3 million plus Josh Onomah we had no chance
— Harry C ? (@HazSpur92) September 19, 2018
This conversation it really hurts Ricky. Its madness that we didnt add at least one midfielder. Ndombele would be perfect addition…
— Dimitris (@dimitriskan94) September 19, 2018
Agreed. Now it's all about who we can realistically sign this Winter. Rabiot wage demands casts doubt on him. Ajax being a good club that's very smart means we may be able to sign De Jong in winter but he would not join until summer. Lemina from Southampton or Barrios from Boca?
— Aaron Pitters (@aaronpitters) September 20, 2018
He looked Quality tonight he is someone we need
— ? ?? (@KieranKyze) September 19, 2018
Chelsea or Liverpool will tie him up in January whilst we dither about the price, project and where we're going to play our home games.
— Aitch (@HowardTHFC) September 19, 2018
Not signing a CM seemed ridiculous given the physical issues of VW, HW and MD, and is already being proved so. Bloody infuriating.
— ?????? (@kanagawaben) September 19, 2018
Immense performance by Lyon. Managed city absolutely perfectly. Hope Poch and the lads were watching
— Altu Kop WBFF Pro (@AltuKop) September 19, 2018
All we can hope for is 'January sales' if things go wrong. The new Spurs policy? Can't believe Joe Lewis spent all that time moored up by Tower Bridge in the summer and left his cheque book behind everytime he went ashore.
— Nick Gray (@9MusicReview) September 19, 2018