Tottenham are determined to make a success of record signing Tanguy Ndombele, amid interest in the Frenchman from Inter Milan and Barcelona.
Inter are open to offering Ndombele an escape route from Spurs, while Barca remain keen on a part-exchange deal despite having already seen an approach rebuffed.
But, for now, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is determined not to sell the maverick midfielder, who cost £55million from Lyon last July.
While the club’s position is clear, Spurs manager Jose Mourinho is still to be won over by Ndombele, who played just 64 minutes after the Premier League restart and missed the final three matches of the season with a hamstring strain.
Before lockdown, Mourinho’s patience with Ndombele wore thin but earlier this month the Portuguese insisted he could still be a success at Spurs, and likened his difficult season to Luka Modric’s first year at Real Madrid.
“When a player has no talent, nothing happens,” Mourinho said. “You are born without potential, you die without potential. When you have talent, lots of things can change and lots of things can happen. If you have talent, you have a chance. Football is full of players who have made difficult starts and then ended well.”
Mourinho had previously accused Ndombele of being “always injured” and said he had to “realise this is the Premier League” after hauling him off at half-time of a 1-1 draw at Burnley in March.
The France international’s situation in north London could change later in the extended transfer window, which is not set to close until three weeks after the start of next season.
Spurs are confident of signing at least one midfielder this summer in Southampton’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who has made it clear he wants to move to north London.
(Evening Standard)