OPINION
Tottenham are about to wave goodbye to one of their worst-ever signings.
The end is nigh for the Spurs career of Georges-Kevin NKoudou, the winger who has made just in three seasons memorable only for his startling failure to live up to expectations.
That is according to NKoudou’s agent Meïssa Ndiaye, who told France Football today (Thursday) that, for the Frenchman and the Tottenham hierarchy “the idea is to leave in January” as “both sides want to move forward and turn the page”.
According to Ndiaye, there is widespread interest in his client, although it would be a surprise if they were major clubs or willing to match or exceed the £9.7million Tottenham paid for him in the summer of 2016.
At the time, he was hailed as an exciting signing following an impressive 2015-16 campaign in which he scored 10 goals and supplied five more for French big guns Marseille.
But the 23-year-old has been frozen out of the Spurs first team for almost the entirety of the past three campaigns, with most of his 24 appearances coming as a substitute.
NKoudou is a blisteringly quick dribbler capable of going past opponents, but his work ethic and commitment have been questioned by Mauricio Pochettino while his lack of end product has stunned Spurs fans expecting something close to the finished article.
The former France Under-21 international went on loan to Burnley for the second half of last season but barely got a game.
Back at Tottenham, even a never-ending series of injuries have failed to bring him in from the cold this season, with his game time amounting to 27 minutes in a League Cup tie.
In years to come, NKoudou will be a convincing answer to a quiz question about the club’s worst ever signings. The club may as well have chucked the near-£10million fee and further millions in wages down the drain.