Galatasaray hold discussions with Tottenham over Tanguy Ndombele deal – Fabrizio Romano
Galatasaray have held discussions with Tottenham over a potential deal to sign midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Italian journalist posted on Twitter (Thursday August 3) to say the Turkish giants have been in contact with Spurs about being kept informed on the conditions of any transfer.
Romano added that Gala’s interest in Manchester United midfielder Fred is “complicated” and is “in stand-by”.
The Mirror has previously reported (1 August) that Ndombele could be allowed to leave Spurs for Gala for as little as £11million, which would represent a £44m loss on what they paid to sign him from Lyon in 2019.
Ndombele has spent the past two seasons out on loan, first back at Lyon then at Napoli where he collected a Serie A winners’ medal.
Time to cut losses
There was much excitement about the signing of Tanguy Ndombele when he was first brought to north London by Mauricio Pochettino.
But, just when the Argentine was starting to get a tune out of him, he was sacked and Jose Mourinho was brought to the club.
Ndombele never looked like fitting the mould of a Mourinho player and he has turned into a hugely expensive flop for Spurs.
New manager Ange Postecoglou has had time to run the rule over this squad during pre-season now too, and it looks as though the Australian does not see him fitting his high-octane, high-press style of play.
Ndombele does possess some traits Postecoglou may like. FBREF stats show that over the past calendar year compared to his positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues, Ndombele was in the top three per cent for the number of take-ons he attempted (4.19 per 90) and the top two per cent for the number of take-ons that he completed (2.29 per 90).
He was also in the top ten per cent of European midfielders for the number of progressive carries he made (2.90 per 90) and the number of fouls that he drew (2.44 per 90) left him in the top four per cent.
Off the ball, though, he seemingly does not suit the type of work rate required for Postecoglou. He was in just the 22nd percentile for the number of touches made in his own half (9.46 per 90) and 18th for the number of touches made in his box (1.30 per 90).
He was in the 27th percentile for the number of tackles he made (1.68 per 90) and just the eighth percentile for the number of tackles he won (0.69 per 90), while he was in the lowest percentile for the number of dribbles challenged (0.923 per 90).
It’s time for Spurs to cut losses and move Ndombele on.
In other Tottenham news, Romano also says Spurs have advanced talks for Wolfsburg defender Micky Van de Ven to the final stages.