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Tottenham Hotspur are flying at the moment, with little cause for concern under the positive new leadership of Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian boss inherited quite the mess in N17, with a squad bereft of confidence, driven into the ground by the previous failed regimes. Not to mention much of the playing staff had been inherited in aid of a philosophy that could not have been further from the all-action attacking play style the 58-year-old would seek to implement.
He had a huge task on his hands to cultivate a team capable of competing across just a single summer, but given their start it is fair to say that he has succeeded.
With four wins and two draws from their opening six Premier League games, they remain unbeaten having faced some arduous challenges, brushing aside Manchester United whilst recording battling draws with Brentford and Arsenal. Their next test is welcoming an in-form Liverpool side to north London, with many eager to see how such a clash pans out.
Rank |
Tottenham Hotspur’s Record Signings |
Fee Paid, via Transfermarkt |
---|---|---|
1 |
Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon) |
£63m |
2 |
Richarlison (Everton) |
€58m (£50m) |
3 |
Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest) |
€55m (£47.6m) |
4 |
Cristian Romero (Atalanta) |
€50m (£43.3m) |
5 |
James Maddison (Leicester City) |
€46.3m (£40.1m) |
One of the great benefits of employing such a cut-throat head coach was that he was willing to cull a side that had admittedly picked up far too many stragglers over the years, with the former Celtic boss noting over the summer: “I don’t have a fixed number [of players to leave] in my head, but fair to say our squad is too big at the moment.
“There are obviously guys who will look for opportunities elsewhere. I will deal with what’s in front of me and I think we’ll see some movement out over the next few weeks.”
Given he oversaw the departures of Harry Winks, Davinson Sanchez, Lucas Moura and more, the biggest exit of the window was pushing their club-record signing to Galatasaray on loan.
How much did Spurs pay for Tanguy Ndombele?
As Mauricio Pochettino sought to take his side to the next level after a couple of title pushes and a run to the Champions League final, he was entrusted a larger transfer war chest in 2019 given the year prior they had made history as the first side to never make a signing across a summer.
However, such frugality was perhaps merited given how he would act with money, choosing to unload a ridiculous £63m fee to tempt Ndombele from Lyon.
Whilst the Frenchman had just enjoyed a standout year in his homeland, starring in the midfield with his classy yet combative play style, there was little shown that merited such a lofty fee. It was a risk that did not really need making, and one that unsurprisingly backfired.
Despite firing home on his Premier League debut, that would arguably mark the peak of the 26-year-old’s time with the Lilywhites, going on to play just 91 times before a string of loan spells outlined his dwindling status.
First returning to Lyon before his time at Napoli would bring home the Serie A title, he has most recently been outcast to Turkey, with little hope of a triumphant return given his contract expires in 2025.
It was even noted by journalist Paul Brown last year that Ndombele may well go down as one of the most wretched transfer decisions in the club’s history, telling GIVEMESPORT:
“I genuinely think, and I have done for a while, that Ndombele is one of the worst signings Spurs have ever made. I keep seeing a lot of people referring to him as a baller. You see clips of him doing skills and tricks and things on Twitter and YouTube, but that’s all he is.”
What only exacerbates the failure that was to come from such a big-money move was the initial reaction to his signing, with a largely positive reception that has since been made to look foolish.
What was said about Ndombele following his move to Spurs?
“It was a fantastic performance. But to be honest there is a lot to improve, he only showed 30 or 40 per cent of his potential. He has amazing potential to improve,” Pochettino would note after that aforementioned opening-day strike against Aston Villa, clearly already delighted with his new purchase.
His was not the only one to dish out high praise to their starring debutant, with teammate Dele Alli also excited at the prospect of playing just in front of Ndombele:
“Last season we had great midfielders as well. He’s come in, he looks comfortable and he’s a great player. It’s an honour to have him at Tottenham. As an attacking player, it’s always nice to know you have people behind you who are comfortable on the ball and you don’t have to worry about defending.”
However, neither of these two stars would see their careers continue in the way they envisioned, with the England international now plying his trade for Everton, whilst the latter has become a loan outcast.
Perhaps the highest adulation handed to the £200k-per-week maestro came courtesy of a piece of analysis made by the Metro, who desperately sought to compare him to former Spurs favourite Mousa Dembele.
“Why Tanguy Ndombele is the Mousa Dembele successor Spurs should break the bank to sign,” their headline read, with a string of statistics seeking to justify such a claim.
Given how the Belgian performed across his 249 games in north London, with the 2015/16 term an outstanding one, it is fair to say that the £13m-rated dud failed to live up to such expectations.
After all, Dembele’s 7.41 average rating that season was mesmeric, and upheld by his four goal contributions, 90% pass accuracy and 92% dribble success rate alongside one key pass, 1.9 interceptions and 3.6 tackles per game, via Sofascore.
How is Tanguy Ndombele playing now?
To compare those figures with Ndombele’s final year in the Premier League, and the two are truly incomparable.
The seven-cap flop would record a 6.58 average rating of his own, with his pass accuracy dropping to 87%, his dribble success rate to just 55%, and his tackles per game at a lowly 1.1, via Sofascore.
Given the quality of such comparisons, he could not have failed to live up to those levels more if he tried.
With the price tag unloaded and the output returned, the midfielder is now struggling to impress in Turkey, so it is fair to say that the outcast is – as Brown noted – one of the club’s worst signings in history.