Tanguy Ndombele was closely linked with a move to Manchester City ahead of joining Tottenham Hotspur.
It was not all that long ago that Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tanguy Ndombele was being linked with every big-name club across Europe.
The Frenchman, who celebrated his 25th birthday a little over a month ago, was going from strength-to-strength at Lyon and was quickly becoming a highly sought-after figure, so much so that Manchester City registered an interest in his services.
It was reported back in December 2018, just days before the January transfer window opened, that City had seen a £45million bid for the physical midfielder knocked back, with it claimed that Lyon were holding out for a fee somewhere in the region of £75million to part ways with what, at the time, was their most valuable asset.
Just seven months later, Tottenham won the race for Ndombele, signing him for a club-record fee of £53.8million. It was a huge statement of intent from the north London club and one that sent out a message to their Premier League rivals. After all, they had reached the Champions League final just over a month earlier and were looking to climb the next rung of the ladder under former boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Just two-and-a-half years on from putting pen to paper on his Spurs contract, Ndombele is on the brink of returning to Lyon after a massively underwhelming time in England, with Spurs agreeing to let him go. Set to rejoin the French club on loan for the remainder of the season, the midfielder has racked up 91 appearances in two-and-a-half seasons, scoring just ten goals and claiming nine assists.
Although he is not considered to be an attack-minded midfielder who will create chances at a rapid rate of knots and score goals regularly, Spurs would have expected a better return on their investment than what they have got. More than £50million for 19 direct goal contributions is far from what they would have both expected and wanted.
Furthermore, Ndombele also found himself on the receiving end of a damning, infamous assessment from former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, who hung the Frenchman out to dry, following a 1-1 draw with Burnley in March 2020.
Furious with his display, Mourinho said: “My thinking was that in the first half we didn’t have a midfield. Simple as that.
“I think more important than the tactics is to have midfield players that want the ball, to have midfield players that connect the game, to have midfield players that press, to have midfield players that recover ball, to have midfield players that win duels and we didn’t have it.
“Of course I’m not speaking about [Oliver] Skipp because Skipp’s a kid of 19-years-old that played two hours of football in the last day. I’m not critical with Skipp at all, at all, because I don’t want another question about the same story, I’m not going to run away and I have to say that Tanguy had enough time to come to a different level.
“I know that the Premier League is very difficult and some players it takes time. Some players it takes a long time to adapt to a different league, but a player with this potential and responsibility has to give us more than he is giving us.”
Based on that, plus Ndombele’s inability to adapt to life in the Premier League as well as and Spurs would have hoped for, City dodged a bullet, it seems.
Whilst, of course, it can be argued that a different environment and the presence of Pep Guardiola’s tactical and coaching excellence may have struck a different chord, Ndombele’s time in the Premier League, which has consisted of 63 appearances, has been forgettable. He has failed to live up to his price tag and he has not helped himself on occasions with his attitude often having found itself under the microscope.
At Lyon he presented himself as a big, physical unit that could run with the ball, glide past players and pick a pass, meaning it was easy to understand why so many clubs, including City, were so keen on his signature.
On reflection, although hindsight can often be blinding in football, City were right not to cave into Lyon’s demands and steer clear.
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