Tanguy Ndombele has revealed that he wanted to demonstrate his "value on the pitch" for Tottenham but Antonio Conte made it clear to him that he was not in his plans. Playing a handful of times immediately after the Italian's appointment as head coach in November 2021, the Frenchman was soon on his way from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as two months later he linked up with former club Lyon on loan.
Returning to N17 last summer after a difficult loan spell with the Ligue 1 side, the talented midfielder is now on course to win silverware in Italy with Napoli on the verge of winning the Scudetto. Discussing his time in Naples and his Tottenham exit, Ndombele has stated that he was "on the edge of the group" at Tottenham last summer and had to depart with no opportunities set to come his way with Conte at the helm.
"There was no other solution with Tottenham and I’m happy I chose Napoli," he said in an interview with French publication So Foot (via Di Marzio). "With Conte there was no choice, I would have liked to demonstrate my value on the pitch but I was on the edge of the group. It was communicated to me from the first day of training with the team.”
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It remains to be seen what will happen with Ndombele come the summer as Napoli do have the option in their agreement with Tottenham to buy the 26-year-old. The player himself is not sure where he will be playing his football come August.
“I don’t know what my future will be, many fans ask me to return to Tottenham but the clubs will decide and Napoli have an option to buy," he said. "I don’t mind being on loan here but sometimes I see footballers being treated more like commodities than people.”
Ndombele has made 34 appearances in total for Napoli this season, scoring two goals and registering one assist. However, the player has only started six games in Serie A and has mainly had to settle for limited minutes off the bench.
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