da jogodeouro： Tottenham Hotspur are about to seal a seventh exit of the summer transfer window…
What’s the word?
da 888： According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, Spurs midfielder Tanguy Ndombele has agreed on personal terms with Serie A outfit Napoli ahead of his move to Italy.
“Napoli are set to sign Tanguy Ndombele from Tottenham as fee was agreed days ago, now deal completed also on personal terms. Medical scheduled on Thursday in Italy. Here we go,” he tweeted. “€1m loan fee, €30m buy option. Napoli will cover main part of the salary.”
It comes three years after the Frenchman cost the Lilywhites a then club-record £55m, signing an eye-watering £200k-per-week contract from Ligue 1 side Lyon.
Mourinho right all along
Those around Hotspur Way will surely be relieved to get a bulk of those wages off the books and there’s now a chance that he goes permanently, should he impress at Gli Azzurri.
If anything, though, it proves that former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho was right all along with his treatment of the 25-year-old.
There is no doubt that Ndombele arrived in north London full of promise. He was clearly talented and had the sort of mercurial ability that Spurs were lacking in midfield.
But when you throw in fitness concerns, attitude problems and a lofty price tag, it was always going to end sour.
During one encounter with Burnley in 2020, Mourinho hauled the Frenchman off at half-time before finishing the game 1-1. Afterwards, he took aim at the club-record flop.
“In the first half we didn’t have a midfield,” said the Portuguese (via the Independent). “Of course, I’m not speaking of Skipp, because he’s a kid of 19 who’s played two hours in the last few days. I don’t criticise him at all.
“But I’m not going to run away and I have to say he [Ndombele] has had enough time to come to a different level.
“I know the Premier League is difficult and some players take a long time to adapt to a different league. But a player with his potential has to give us more than he is giving us, especially when you see how Lucas [Moura], [Giovani] Lo Celso and those players are playing. I was expecting more in the first half from him.”
Mourinho may have somewhat ostracised his star player at that point but now we’re seeing that he was indeed right all along.
Across this three-year stint at Tottenham, Ndombele racked up 91 appearances but was only able to contribute ten goals and nine assists, averaging one contribution every three games, which isn’t good enough from your creative outlet, let alone one that cost £55m.
Some particularly poor moments saw the former Lyon gem brandished as “very lazy” and “petulant” by pundit Alan Hutton.
[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-paratici-conte-levy-gossip-more” title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and so much more!”]
That included an unforgettable afternoon against EFL minnows Morecambe in the FA Cup. He was hooked early, a frequent occurrence in his Lilywhites career, to a chorus of boos and as the Spurs faithful jeered louder, the rate by which he trundled off the pitch got slow.
It was quite frankly a disgraceful act of selfishness from Ndombele and was the last time we truly saw him get a proper run-out in a Spurs shirt.
Thankfully now, though, it appears that nightmarish saga is drawing to a close as the 25-year-old is on the verge of joining Napoli, where he could set pulses racing with the slower pace of play in the Serie A.
Tottenham better hope he delivers as this could be the final chance for them to cash in, £25m would be more than anyone thought was possible and this all but confirms that Mourinho was indeed correct.
AND in other news, Alasdair Gold claims Spurs are eyeing £15m “maestro” who “Paratici really likes”, he’s Winks 2.0…