Tottenham Hotspur have been in talks with Villarreal over a potential double deal for Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele.
This is according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, who has been speaking on his Here We Go podcast about the futures of the Spurs outcasts.
Both Lo Celso and Ndombele were expelled from Tottenham’s pre-season efforts, with neither player going on the South Korea tour or playing a single minute of the club’s friendlies.
Spurs have spent fairly big this summer with six new faces through the door, however, there is still the expectation for an exodus in the final weeks of the window.
Having both left on short-term loans back in January to Villarreal and Lyon respectively, Romano now believes there are talks ongoing to see them depart again before the end of the summer window.
He said: “With Villarreal, there are two negotiations ongoing. Two separate deals, let me clarify.
“The priority for Villarreal is Gio Lo Celso, as always. They want him, they’re really confident and I feel that at the end, Villarreal will sign Gio Lo Celso.
“And during these conversations for Lo Celso with Fabio Paratici, Tottenham director, they also discussed Ndombele. What could be the solution? Two loans with buy option that could become an obligation, so it could become mandatory clause in case some targets will be reached and achieved.”
TIF Thoughts on Romano’s comments…
We think most Spurs fans will be delighted to hear this from Romano given neither player appears to be in the plans of Antonio Conte.
Who was the worse signing?Giovani Lo CelsoTanguy Ndombele |
The pair have been incredibly underwhelming purchases, with just eight goals to Lo Celso’s name for Spurs and just the 10 for Ndombele.
However, Romano did suggest both deals could be loans with options to purchase, which has not gone well for Spurs already this year with the pair, as Villarreal and Lyon decided against taking up similar options at the end of last season.
So there will certainly be the hope that those options become obligations over the course of the season if both make the move.