Jose Mourinho says Spurs ace has become a ‘very complete’ player, hints at positional change

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho says Tanguy Ndombele has now evolved into a “complete player” and can now be considered elsewhere in midfield besides No. 10.

The 24-year-old is in amazing form at present, his maiden-season issues at Tottenham now a distant memory.

Ndombele has made 27 appearances in all competitions this season, including 18 in the Premier League, and has often played the full 90 minutes.

Speaking ahead of Tottenham’s meeting with Chelsea, Mourinho spoke about the potential midfield combinations at his disposal, and suggested that Ndombele and Dele Alli could now play in the same XI.

“Tanguy was, in the beginning of the season, when we were trying to make him a Player, with a capital P, is a player in all his dimensions and potential, we had to start with him being a number 10,” he told football.london.

“He didn’t have the discipline, he didn’t have the strength, he didn’t have the stamina to be a midfield player, and in that moment we could say ‘well, it’s Tanguy or Dele in the team’. ‘It’s Tanguy or Gio Lo Celso.’

“In this moment, the evolution of Tanguy brought him in one direction where he is very complete. He is very good defensively too. He lasts the 90 minutes without any kind of problem.

“If you remember last season, you remember clearly that Tanguy, even in short periods, he was struggling to keep that intensity.

“Tanguy now is a midfeld player. And that opens the space where is not any more about Tanguy or Dele, Tanguy or Gio, can be Tanguy and Gio, or Tanguy and Dele.”

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Massive credit to Mourinho for having kept the faith in Ndombele and working hard with him – he is now firing on all cylinders and very much in the same elite tier as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

With Alli staying put at N17, Mourinho’s comments about the No. 10 slot being more flexible will also come as great news for the England international and to the many Spurs fans eager to see him back in the fold.