Who’s ready for some TANGUY NDOMBELE DISCOURSE? According to a paywalled article in French newspaper L’Equipe (relayed via Sport Witness), Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly turned down an approach for Ndombele worth €20m from an unknown club.
Did you get that? I’ll repeat it for those in the back:
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR REPORTEDLY TURNED DOWN ACTUAL MONEY IN THE TRANSFER MARKET FOR TANGUY NDOMBELE!
The report says that Ange Postecoglou is “a long time admirer” of Ndombele, and that after getting a look at him initially in preseason he “intends to leave a space” for him in his 4-3-3 formation at Spurs son long as he “confirms this good impression of him in the preseason matches.”
This actually tracks with a lot of the background info we’ve gleaned about Big Ange and Tanguy over the past few weeks. It was hinted that Postecoglou wanted to take a look at Ndombele early on to see if there’s a role for him in the squad, despite Tanguy falling completely out of favor with multiple coaches and the fans over the past few years.
And it makes sense! You can say a lot about Tanguy, but one thing that’s abundantly clear is that the guy is really, REALLY good on the ball. Ange’s teams all want the ball and want to progress it quickly, which would seem to fit Ndombele’s game very, very well.
Ndombele is surely at minimum partially at fault for what happened to him at Tottenham since arriving from Lyon, but he also signed for Mauricio Pochettino and ended up playing for Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo, and Antonio Conte, all three managers that don’t really play with midfielders like him. Spurs certainly did not do him any favors, though I would not want to minimize Tanguy’s own culpability. And maybe he’s the kind of player who needs a motivator, rather than a football terrorist, barking in his ear.
We don’t know what club reportedly made an move for Tanguy. It’s apparently not an offer-offer, but an informal approach that Spurs smacked back. But you know what? There’s not much to lose here. This isn’t confirmation that Ange is going all in on the Ndombelaissance, but he is true to his word in giving him a chance. And apparently he’s impressing! L’Equipe goes on to say that if things don’t work out, there are options for him either on the continent or, possibly, Saudi Arabia.
As for me? Hell yeah, let’s go. Give the big lad a shot. I can see a possible future where Tanguy resurrects his stagnant career at Spurs under a new progressive manager and becomes the player we all thought he’d be when he first signed. If he isn’t, or doesn’t become that, well then we’re not any worse off than we were before.
