Tanguy Ndombele has not lived up to expectations at Tottenham since arriving in a £63million deal from Lyon in the summer of 2019.
The 23-year-old, bought by former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino, has been dubbed France’s next big star amid a generation of exciting talent.
And life at Tottenham started so well for Ndombele, the midfielder scoring a screamer on debut in the opening game of the season against Aston Villa.
His signing had caused much excitement amongst Spurs fans, and his debut performance just added to that expectation.
However, it has been a rough road since then for the new man. He has added just one more goal in his subsequent 18 Premier League appearances, and was criticised by new Spurs boss Jose Mourinho for his performance in a 1-1 draw at Burnley.
The famously feisty Portuguese manager warned he could not keep giving Ndombele opportunities after he was substituted at half-time at Turf Moor, adding: “I know the Premier League is difficult and some players take a long time to adapt to a different league, but a player with his potential has to give us more than he is giving us.”
Something else that caused a surprise was when Mourinho recently named Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil in his all-time top XI of the players he had previously managed.
Ndombele and Ozil are completely different in terms of how they play the game.
The Spurs man is more of a ball-carrying, box-to-box player with a physical presence.
Ozil is a traditional “number 10” who can also play out wide and likes to find the space between opposition defenders and midfielders. On his day, the German is nearly impossible to mark.
What surprised people most by Ozil’s inclusion in Mourinho’s all-time XI, was the fact many see him as “lazy”, especially since he joined Arsenal.
But Ozil’s productivity whilst playing under Mourinho at Real was incredible, averaging 26.7 assists per season. Stats like that mean there can be no surprise about his inclusion - it doesn’t matter about how much he runs.
To produce for Spurs, Ndombele needs to find more composure, the sort of calmness we saw from him at Lyon, where he provided 16 assists over his last two seasons with the club.
The sort of numbers Ozil produced at Madrid are unrealistic for the Frenchman, and Mourinho will know that, but he needs to find a creative spark from somewhere.
His work ethic is one thing that cannot be faulted, but it’s a lack of confidence that is undermining his game at the moment.
Mourinho is not the most patient of managers when it comes to giving players a chance, but there is still hope for Ndombele. He just needs to be clinical when his next opportunity comes. If he doesn’t, then Mourinho will not be scared to show him the door.
