Report: Club could now do u-turn and actually sign £26m Tottenham Hotspur player permanently next year

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Napoli are now considering signing Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tanguy Ndombele on a permanent deal next year.

That’s according to Calciomercato, who report that Napoli are now thinking about activating his €30m (£26m) option.

Ndombele has struggled for minutes in Serie A since joining the club on deadline day.

The midfield trio of Stanislav Lobotka, summer West Ham target Piotr Zielinski and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa have limited Ndombele’s opportunities.

However, Anguissa has now suffered an injury, giving Ndombele the chance to prove his worth.

The report from Calciomercato suggests that his performance against Bologna was ‘a first brick put in’ to convince Napoli to sign him permanently.

They believe that his £26m option was too expensive and ‘seemed prohibitive’ in the summer.

However, Napoli are now considering signing Ndombele given how well he’s played when called upon.

Napoli consider signing Ndombele next year

Ndombele’s preparations for this season were not ideal to say the least.

He was one of a number of Tottenham players who were frozen out of the first team by Antonio Conte.

In fact, Spurs were at one point willing to accept almost any offer for Ndombele in the summer.

Napoli eventually came calling, giving Ndombele the opportunity to play in the Champions League once again.

The Italian media hadn’t been massively impressed with his initial contribution at Napoli.

He’s going to get more and more opportunities to prove he’s good enough to play for the Neapolitan side.

Tottenham fans only ever saw the best of Ndombele in brief glimpses.

His work rate was questioned, as was his fitness, and Conte couldn’t find a place for him in his set-up.

The balance between Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur suggests Ndombele isn’t a good enough defensive player to suit that role.

However, he’s found a home in Napoli, and if they can finally achieve their goal of winning Serie A again with Ndombele in the side, their fans will be clamouring for his loan move to be made permanent.