Here are your Tottenham Hotspur morning headlines for Saturday, March 28
Barcelona to approach Spurs over swap deal
Barcelona are reportedly prepared to offer Tottenham Philippe Coutinho in exchange for midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.
The Brazilian struggled at the Camp Nou after his move from Liverpool in January 2018 and last summer was loaned to Bayern Munich. However, the German club do not plan to make the move permanent and that has created a problem for Barcelona who want to shift the 27-year-old off their books.
It’s one they hope to solve, according to Mundo Deportivo, by offering Coutinho to Tottenham in a straight swap deal for Tanguy Ndombele, who has failed to live up to his club-record £63m fee since arriving from Lyon last summer and has drawn the ire of Jose Mourinho.
Which brings us to...
Mourinho receives support from former Arsenal star
Emmanuel Petit has backed Mourinho’s decision to publicly criticise Ndombele for his lethargic performances this season.
After hauling the midfielder off after 45 ineffective minutes against Burnley last month, Mourinho told reporters: "I have to say he has had enough time to come to a different level.
"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."
And Mourinho has found a somewhat unlikely ally in Petit, the French star who spent three seasons with Tottenham’s north London rivals Arsenal and three years with Chelsea.
"[Ndombele] is not consistent enough," Petit told The Sun. "He doesn't play well with any regularity. He has quality but I agree with Mourinho in that Ndombele could do much more.
"When he is very motivated, fit and ready, with his mind and body, and when he has the ambition to perform well, he becomes a top player."
Tottenham youngster set for summer exit
Tottenham will attempt to sell Kyle Walker-Peters this summer with the full-back not in Mourinho’s first-team plans, according to Football Insider .
Walker-Peters barely featured under the Portuguese coach before he was loaned to Southampton in the January transfer window, a move the 22-year-old doesn’t believe would have been sanctioned by former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.
"If he hadn't left, I don’t think I'd be on loan, so it just shows how fast football can change," Walker Peters told Southampton’s official website .
"Mourinho comes in and I get to play one game, but I don't really get an opportunity like I thought I would, in terms of two or three games rotating with Serge Aurier. But the manager has to make decisions. That was his decision, so that’s fine."
