Football
Tanguy Ndombele Tottenham reunion possibility emerges after transfer move sealed
Tanguy Ndombele would only be without a football club for a matter of days after officially departing Tottenham last Sunday. Initially set to be a Spurs player until the summer of 2025 due to the six-year contract he signed after joining from Lyon in July 2019, the Lilywhites and Ndombele agreed to the mutual termination of his contract, effective from June 30, upon the conclusion of his Galatasaray loan spell.
Amid question marks over his next move after underwhelming loan spells with the Turkish giants as well as former club Lyon and Napoli, the 27-year-old has returned to his native France on a permanent basis. On Thursday evening it was confirmed that the midfielder will be playing his football for Ligue 1 side Nice from the 2024/25 season onwards after penning a two-year contract in the South of France.
After linking up with Franck Haise’s team for the upcoming campaign, Ndombele, speaking to the club’s official website, said: “I’m very happy that everything was wrapped up quickly, because it’s important to start the pre-season with the squad. As soon as I was presented with the Nice project, I didn’t hesitate.
“I’m happy and proud to join The Gym. There are great collective ambitions and I have my own challenges to overcome. The team finished fifth and will play in the Europa League. I can’t wait to get to work so that we can build something great together.”
Ndombele’s Nice transfer does raise the possibility of an immediate Tottenham reunion as both teams will be competing in next season’s Europa League. Previously split into groups of four during the group stage, the Europa League will look rather different from September with 36 teams playing in a newly-formed league phase and playing eight games at that stage of the competition.
As teams will be split into four pots of nine and then go on to be drawn against two sides from each pot in order to determine the eight fixtures, there is every chance Ndombele and Nice could be paired against Spurs. That will all become clear when the draw for the league phase is made on Friday, August 30.
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The player’s new club are certainly expecting Ndombele to make an impact at the Allianz Riviera once the new league season begins. Club president Jean-Pierre Rivere believes that Nice will give the midfielder the “ideal conditions to be very successful”.
“During our meetings, I discovered a charming and very motivated boy,” revealed Rivere. “We welcome him. All the planets were aligned for his arrival. He has a lot of talent and I am certain that he will find, with us, the ideal conditions to be very successful.”
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Florian Maurice, Nice’s sporting director, added: “Tanguy is a different player. It’s up to us to give him the ideal framework so that he can fully express his qualities.
“He knows the very high level. He perfectly matches the profiles we are targeting and he is in the prime of life. He worked a lot before joining us, he is very determined. Our goal is to perform in all competitions. To do this, we need players of his stature.”
Ndombele’s competitive Nice bow could come midway through August when they travel to Auxerre on the opening weekend of the Ligue 1 season. Prior to then, Nice have a pre-season friendly against Lausanne in the calendar for next Wednesday before facing Spanish side Leganes nine days later.
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