Report: Jose Mourinho to keep faith in struggling Spurs player linked with summer exit

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Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly ruled out parting ways with Tanguy Ndombele this summer, with Spurs boss Jose Mourinho keeping faith in his player following a tough maiden season, according to the Evening Standard.

Ndombele arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to much fanfare last summer in a club record deal, Spurs having reportedly agreed an initial fee of around £55million with Lyon, who could receive another £9million in add-ons.

However, the 23-year-old’s first season at Tottenham hasn’t quite gone to plan, with just 12 Premier League starts amid injuries and loss of form, and in Spurs’ last Premier League game before the shutdown, against Burnley, he was hauled off at half-time by Mourinho.

The Portuguese publicly criticised Ndombele after the 1-1 draw, being quoted by The Mail as saying: “In the first half we didn’t have a midfield… of course I’m not speaking of Skipp… but I’m not going to run away and I have to say (Ndombele) has had enough time to come to a different level.”

Ndombele’s difficult time in north London is believed to have alerted Barcelona, who are looking to offload players in swap deals this summer, while Tottenham’s Premier League rivals Liverpool are also thought to be in the running.

However, the Evening Standard claims that Spurs have no intention of selling or loaning out Ndombele, and although the player is unsettled, Mourinho is confident of getting the best from him.

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Ndombele is undoubtedly a talented player, his exploits leading to Spurs spending a lot of money on him, and he’s not suddenly turned bad overnight – a change of employment and country, the change of manager at Tottenham and the player’s injuries and loss of form will all have played their part.

Some players do hit the ground running when changing clubs and/or countries but others will take a while longer, and need a bit more man-management to really get up the gears – Ndombele seems more like the latter, and as such it’s totally understandable to hear that he’s unlikely to just be jettisoned after 12 months.