BBC pundit claims Tottenham man has aimed a ‘sly dig’ at Daniel Levy

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Tottenham Hotspur were knocked out of the Champions League last night.

Tom Huddlestone believes Jose Mourinho has aimed a ‘sly dig’ at Daniel Levy and the Tottenham board in regards to his heavy and public criticism of Tanguy Ndombele, as he told BBC Radio 5 Live (10/03/20 at 19:25 pm).

The former Premier League midfielder thinks Mourinho is also ‘planting a few seeds’ for the summer in the hope that Levy gets his ‘cheque book out’ because his comments signify that Tottenham’s record-signing ‘isn’t up to the level’. 

Ndombele was hauled off at half-time during Tottenham’s 1-1 draw at Burnley from the weekend, and then he was left on the bench as the North London club were dumped out of the Champions League last night. 

Huddlestone, who knows what it is like donning the Spurs shirt in the middle of the park, shared his thoughts on Mourinho’s criticism of Ndombele. 

“For a manager to publicly criticise a player, you would expect he has explored every other avenue,”  Huddlestone told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Speaking to him one-on-one, in front of the group etc..  

“But equally, I think that could be a message to the board or the fans to say ‘this is your big-money summer signing or club-record signing and he’s not up to the level I am after’. Meaning that the rest of the players, which are cheaper and probably a bit less more experience probably aren’t up to the standards he wants [either]. 

“It could be a Mourinho classic sly-dig at to the board and planting a few seeds ready for the summer, so Daniel Levy can get the cheque book out.” 

What happens to Ndombele now remains to be seen but given that Spurs forked out big-money for his services, if you are Levy, you’re not going to want to replace the Frenchman just like that. 

If Ndombele doesn’t have a future under Mourinho then it will spark a serious debate in the Spurs board room because of how much they paid for him and how they just cannot let him go and replace him without hurting their bank balance. 

What doesn’t help Ndombele’s cause is that he has been criticised on a number of occasions by his manager, singled out and he wasn’t brought to the club by the Portuguese. Therefore, what he does from now until May is going to be very, very crucial.