The inside track on Tanguy Ndombele with Julien Laurens
Sat 06 July 2019, 13:03|
Tottenham Hotspur
Hugely-respected French journalist Julien Laurens has followed Tanguy Ndombele's rise from Amiens to Lyon to the France national team and now to Spurs. A regular on ESPN, BT Sport, RMC Sport, the Totally Football Show and 5Live, Julien has given us this exclusive insight into our new signing....
Always positive
Julien: "Tanguy Ndombele is a real ‘box’to-box’ player, a proper number eight in midfield with a lot of intensity in his game. He loves to run with the ball, loves to break the lines and make powerful runs forward. The thing I like the most about him is that he is always wants to do something positive every time he touches the ball. With him, there are not many passes sideways or backwards, he goes forward and tries to create, tries to make a difference, tries to bring something to the game. He has a rare profile - a mix of power and technical ability. He’s so good technically. He’s only 22 with room for improvement and Mauricio Pochettino will make him a better player, no doubt about that."
A perfect fit
Julien: "I’m sure Ndombele will suit the rhythm and pace of the game in the Premier League and more importantly, he’s perfectly suited to Tottenham’s style of football, that intensity. He will be able to make those runs with the ball and then has all those great players around him to find with a pass. He’s a perfect player for the style of football Spurs want to play."
View from France
Julien: "The feeling back home in France is this is a club with the best stadium in the world, one of the best training grounds in the world, a team that was quite unlucky not to win the Champions League last season and with one of the best managers in football. Add all those things together and it’s quite something. That’s what Ndombele liked. From a very early stage when he knew about the interest from Spurs he was adamant this was a big club where he would continue his progression, the perfect place to grow and hopefully win things. The feeling is very much that this is a match between the club and the player and that Spurs are a very ambitious club, on the up, as I said, and Ndombele is a very ambitious player, on the up as well – the two find each other very well."
