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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
French football expert Julien Laurens believes that midfielder Tanguy Ndombele will improve as a player under Mauricio Pochettino after joining Tottenham Hotspur, per the club’s official website.
What’s he said?
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Ndombele became Spurs’ record signing earlier in this transfer window, joining from Lyon for a fee of £53.8m.
That easily eclipses the £42m the club paid to sign Davinson Sanchez from Ajax in 2017.
And Laurens, who has worked for ESPN, BT Sport and RMC Sport, insists that he will only improve by working under the Argentine.
He said: “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 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 snip
It’s rare that a club-record signing can be considered a bargain but this is one of those occasions.
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Ndombele was reportedly chased by the likes of Juventus and Manchester United but chose a move to Spurs, having been convinced by the project of Mauricio Pochettino.
As such, one has to feel that he is worth whatever has been paid; his talent is evident, he is already a full France international and he was being courted by some of the biggest clubs on the continent.
Laurens describes a player that Spurs have lacked since the departure of Mousa Dembele and he solves that problem at a stroke, while also offering something different and exciting.
The club have shown a great deal of ambition by bringing him in.