Speaking on a recent episode of the Here We Go podcast, Fabrizio Romano revealed that Tottenham Hotspur manager, Jose Mourinho, was ‘ready’ to let Tanguy Ndombele leave the club this summer.
Following his move to Spurs from Olympique Lyon in what was a £54 million deal last summer, Ndombele struggled for game time after the appointment of Mourinho as Tottenham manager last November, making just 11 Premier League appearances under the Portuguese boss last season.
So far this season, however, the £36 million-rated 23-year-old has featured much more regularly, playing in all five of the club’s league fixtures thus far, as well as two of their three Europa League matches, prior to their clash with LASK on Thursday.
However, it appears there was a very real possibility that the France international could not have played at all for Spurs this season, as, on a recent episode of the Here We Go podcast, Romano revealed that Mourinho was ‘ready’ to sell the midfielder over the summer transfer window, only for Daniel Levy to be ‘the key man’ in ensuring Ndombele stayed in north London.
He said: “He had a terrible situation last season, he was not the real player we knew. [However,] we have to say congrats to Daniel Levy – the key man in the situation of Ndombele was Daniel Levy.
“According to our info, Mourinho was ready to say, ‘you can leave the club this summer, no problem’. He was ready to let him go. [However,] Daniel Levy always said, ‘we paid €60 million for this player from Lyon one year ago. I won’t sell this player for less than €60 million and I want this player to show his skills here at Tottenham’.
“So, that’s why he’s staying, that’s why he’s happy right now. Also, the situation with Mourinho is improving day by day, they have a good feeling right now. So, congrats to Tottenham, congrats [to] Danny Levy, and I am convinced the player is not moving [in] January, we will see next summer, but about January – he’s not moving, he’s not going anywhere. He’s so happy at Tottenham.”
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TIF Thoughts on Fabrizio Romano’s comments regarding Tanguy Ndombele…
From Romano’s comments, it would appear as if Mourinho was indeed ready to part with Ndombele this summer, however, Daniel Levy stated his desire to witness the player become an integral part of the Tottenham side, and, considering the midfielder has featured in every league game for Spurs thus far, it would seem he is well on his way to doing so.
So, if Ndombele does indeed go on to play an important role in Tottenham’s season, it would appear as if fans of the club will have their chairman to thank, rather than Mourinho.