Gedson Fernandes signing for Tottenham could be bad news for Tanguy Ndombele

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Tottenham Hotspur are close to signing Benfica midfielder Gedson Fernandes on an 18-month loan deal, according to Sky Sports.

The 21-year-old is set to fly into London early this week to complete his move after rejecting the advances of West Ham.

His arrival is perhaps surprising. Of all the positions it was anticipated Jose Mourinho would try and bolster, midfield perhaps wasn’t one of them.

It’s a fair assessment to say Spurs could do with two new full-backs and Harry Kane’s injury has left them desperately short upfront.

It would seem that Fernandes will be the first through the door, however, and that surely sparks debate about some of the club’s current midfielders.

Tanguy Ndombele arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from Lyon in the summer. He cost £53.8 million (BBC Sport) and is paid £200,000-a-week by Spurs (Spotrac).

A move for Fernandes does, however, pose some questions over whether Mourinho is totally convinced by the Frenchman.

Ndombele does have a minor groin strain at the moment and that was the reason behind his omission from Saturday’s defeat to Liverpool.

Under Mourinho, however, he hasn’t been a consistent member of the team. In four of the new manager’s nine league games prior to Saturday, he wasn’t even included in the 18-man squad.

When a player is signed for such a substantial amount of money, you’d expect them to be at least in the matchday squad.

Ndombele is going to have to win over his boss, but the arrival of Fernandes will make that task almost thankless.

Quality

The incoming 21-year-old could become a star of the future. Arriving initially on loan, it is expected that he will become a big part of Mourinho’s team.

He will cost £40 million (Evening Standard) in the summer of 2021 but his arrival will almost certainly shunt Ndombele down the pecking order.

Both players operate in similar positions and having chased him fiercely, it seems unlikely Mourinho will be benching Fernandes.

Despite his big-money summer signing, Ndombele already faces a battle to impress his new boss and pin down a regular starting berth.

Former boss Mauricio Pochettino was responsible for signing the big French star and right now it would seem that Mourinho isn’t at all convinced by his quality.