THE return of Gareth Bale will continue to dominate headlines, and the capture of left-back Sergio Reguilon from Real Madrid for £25m is a mark of their ambition, but Tottenham Hotspur’s finest addition this season might just be the belated arrival of Tanguy Ndombele.
The French midfielder has, of course, been a Spurs player for more than a year, having signed from Lyon for £55m in the summer of 2019. But inconsistent early form and a public fallout with manager Jose Mourinho – which resulted in the 23-year-old making just three post-restart appearances at the back end of last season – led to a swirl of speculation over his future at the club.
But, in private meetings made public by the club’s ‘All or Nothing’ Amazon documentary, Spurs deigned to keep faith in Ndombele, who has shown in the early games of the 2020-21 campaign why Tottenham were convinced to shell out a club-record fee to sign him.
“The manager and I had a number of differences of opinion last season,” Ndombele said recently. “But since then we have each tried to put our egos to one side, and to move on for the sake of the club.”
“The players have to fight, they have to perform,” Mourinho said, suggesting that Ndombele has begun to demonstrate the manager’s prerequisites this term. “I would never give him a place in the team because he was an expensive buy or because he's an important player”.
A goal against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa League second qualifying round and another in the 6-1 smashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford have capped a string of bright, energetic performances from Ndombele. Displaying his rare blend of technical grace, fleet-footedness and driving force, the Frenchman is once again recognisable as the player who had attracted vast interest from Europe’s elite clubs while at Lyon, and whose signing for Spurs was regarded as something of a coup.
With just four Premier League appearances on which to judge Ndombele’s return to form, the sample size is admittedly small. Statistically, his numbers were more than respectable last season, despite the perceived turmoil surrounding him. And his per-90-minute averages for successful dribbles (3.2 compared to 3.4), interceptions (1.3 from 1.2) and tackles (1.9 from 1.3) have remained steady this season.
The key indicator of his increased status within the Tottenham midfield, though – evidence of his burgeoning confidence and the trust his team-mates and manager have in him – can be found in his passing statistics. Ndombele is making, on average, 68.5 passes per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, a dramatic uptick from his 56.3 last term. No longer a struggling peripheral figure, he is quickly becoming the conduit through whom Spurs build play.
It's Tanguy Ndombele's season isn't it? With the focus on others, he's just getting better and better. This fortnight will have only improved that growing fitness as well. I still believe he could be Dembele's heir, only with ability in the final third. pic.twitter.com/UtDwanfVyH
— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) October 13, 2020
It is possible that, to some degree, Ndombele’s resurgence can be attributed to having been partnered in central midfield with new signing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
A £15m arrival from Southampton this summer, the Dane’s strengths dovetail so well with Ndombele’s as to give the impression he is the lab creation of a mad scientist at Mourinho’s employ, constructed with the express aim of becoming the Frenchman’s foil.
As detailed in Marti Perarnau’s Pep Confidential – a behind-the-scenes account of the Catalan tactician’s first year in charge of Bayern Munich – Hojbjerg was a personal favourite of Pep Guardiola’s when the pair worked together, such was the midfielder’s technical quality and on-field intelligence.
Already at Spurs, the 25-year-old leads the team in interceptions (four) and tackles (nine) in the Premier League, while simultaneously exhibiting a calming ability to dictate tempo and prod holes in opposition defences.
Hojbjerg’s assuredness, organisational skills and careful positioning have allowed him to act as the midfield bedrock from which Ndombele can launch himself, freeing the Frenchman to hunt down possession and spring forward in attack.
"I'm very happy,” Mourinho said when questioned recently about Ndombele’s form in the early weeks of 2020-21. “I tell all the time, when a player improves it's a player's responsibility, it's the player's credit, it's not the coach who makes the miracle.
"The player does that by himself, to understand what he has to understand and go in the right direction that he has to go."
With form, fitness and a formidable accomplice coalescing around him, everything is clicking into place for Ndombele to fulfil the vast potential that laid dormant for too long last season.
“For the time being things are working for the best,” Ndombele cautiously appraised, “and let’s try to continue in this manner.”
