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Barcelona are interested in signing Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, reports L'Equipe.
Ndombele joined Tottenham last summer for a fee of £56 million from Lyon. Following the departure of Mauricio Pochettino, Ndombele has found game time limited under new manager Jose Mourinho.
Barcelona express interest in Ndombele
La Liga giants Barcelona have shown an interest in signing the French international. The Catalan giants had previously been linked with the midfielder during his time at Lyon, but Ndombele decided to join Spurs instead.
The 23-year old has failed to impress Mourinho so far. The Portuguese coach is said to be dissatisfied with Ndombele's efforts, a dissatisfaction which he has expressed vocally to the media in the past.
Ndombele is regarded as one of the best young midfielders in Europe. Many fans have been drawing parallels with Paul Pogba's time under Mourinho at Manchester United when the Frenchman was constantly dropped by the manager despite performing well and clearly having an abundance of talent.
If Ndombele decides to leave, he won't be short of suitors. Before his move to Tottenham, Barcelona and Real Madrid were linked with him. Reports suggest that French giants Paris Saint Germain would be interested in bringing him back to France.
The Barcelona deal is said to be a two-year loan with an option to buy. With Barcelona rumoured to be close to selling midfielder Arthur to Juventus, a move for Ndombele would make sense financially as well as structurally.
The Frenchman, who has appeared for Amiens as well, had a splendid start to his career with Spurs when he scored on his debut match for them. However, after some good initial performances under Pochettino, Mourinho's arrival seems to have knocked the wind out of his sail.
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This season, Ndombele has made 27 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring two goals and providing four assists. A midfielder with good passing and dribbling numbers, Ndombele's skill-set could prove to be useful for a club like Barcelona.
The Catalans' midfield is getting by, with Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal all over 30. If Arthur is indeed sold to Juventus, that will leave Frenkie de Jong with the majority of the ball-progression duties. Ndombele's towering presence in the Barcelona midfield would help de Jong out massively.
In his last season with Lyon, Ndombele ranked 4th in the squad for key passes, with 1.4 per game. The midfielder ranked 1st for dribbles, with 1.9. These numbers go on to show that the French midfielder is press-resistant, with an eye for a pass.
Barcelona could do with such players. Rather than splurging excessive amounts on a 30-year old Miralem Pjanic, a move for Ndombele makes more sense. A club like Barcelona, who have eight players aged 30 or more, should focus more on building for the future rather than focussing on short-term gains with players like Pjanic.
Ndombele, de Jong, and La Masia graduate Riqui Puig could go on to form a good midfield base for Barcelona to build their future on.
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