The season may be over, and the fans may still be basking in the glory of Europa League success, but there is still plenty of work for the Tottenham Hotspur board to do in the coming months.
However, it’s not all about incomings, as the club now have a golden opportunity to offload a number of players who simply aren’t good enough.
Specifically, Levy and Co should look to sell someone who’s in real danger of becoming the club’s new Tanguy Ndombele.
Ndombele’s Spurs career
Back in the summer of 2019, Spurs were crying out for some midfield reinforcements, and so the club did something quite out of character and smashed their transfer record to bring in Ndombele for around £63m.
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There was plenty of excitement around the move at the time, as the Frenchman was coming off a stellar campaign with Lyon, and several prominent journalists were even comparing him to the simply sensational Mousa Dembélé – yes, seriously.
Unfortunately, aside from the good performance here and there, the Longjumeau-born ace never got anywhere near the level that was expected of him, so much so that after just two and a half years, he was sent back to Lyon on a short-term loan.
Ndombele’s Spurs career
Appearances
91
Goals
10
Assists
9
Goal Involvements per Match
0.20
All Stats via Transfermarkt
After that, he spent a season with Napoli and then another with Galatasary, finally leaving N17 after his contract was terminated by mutual consent, with 91 Tottenham appearances to his name, in which he scored ten goals and provided nine assists.
With his fee, lack of game time and poor performances all taken into account, it’s not hard to see why journalist Paul Brown described Ndombele as “one of the worst signings Spurs have ever made.”
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Unfortunately, the club now have another midfielder who could be in a similar conversation, unless they sell him this summer, that is.
The Spurs player who must be sold
Now, while a number of squad members should be sold this summer, the player we are talking about is Yves Bissouma.
Like Ndombele before him, there was quite a bit of excitement around the Mali international’s transfer to Spurs back in 2022, with content creator George Benson describing the deal as “an absolutely brilliant signing.”
However, instead of getting the unreal midfield destroyer who was sensational for Brighton & Hove Albion, the North Londoners ended up with a player who has had more questionable performances than good ones.
For example, while he was undeniably excellent in the Europa League final, he was terrible against his old club on Sunday, earning himself a 4/10 match rating from Alasdair Gold, who rather charitably described him as ‘clumsy.’
It was a similar story away to Fulham earlier in the season when Gold gave him 3/10 and wrote that ‘his use of the ball was dreadful.’
Go back another few months to December, and he put in such a poor display at home to Chelsea – in which he gave away a penalty – that Jamie Carragher slammed him for being “absolutely ridiculous.”
Finally, on top of being unable to string together a number of good performances, the 28-year-old has a sketchy fitness record at best, which has seen him miss 25 games for club and country since moving to N17.
Ultimately, it’s in Spurs’ best interest to say thanks for the performance in the final and sell Bissouma this summer before another season of dismal displays turns him into the modern Ndombele.
