Genoa reportedly had a private jet booked for Tanguy Ndombele before Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League misfit got cold feet about a potential move to Serie A.
While few Tottenham Hotspur supporters could begrudge Harry Kane a shot at the Champions League, it’s fair to say Tanguy Ndombele done far less to suggest that he deserves to dine out on lobster and caviar at Europe’s top table.
Ndombele, however, ensured he will be going head-to-head against Kane and co in the group-stages, securing a £13 million loan-to-buy move to Turkish giants Galatasaray alongside Davinson Sanchez last week.
Tanguy Ndombele leaves Tottenham for Turkey
One of the most disappointing pound-for-pound signings in recent Premier League history, Ndombele was initially on the verge of joining Genoa instead.
La Repubblica report that the Serie A outfit had even chartered a private jet to collect the mercurial Frenchman from London, only for Ndombele to inform the Genoa bosses at the eleventh hour that he had little interest in joining a club unable to offer UCL football.
The Rossoblu ran into similar problems when attempting to recruit Donny van de Beek from Manchester United too. At least Spurs were able to belatedly get Ndombele out the door. That is more than can be said for the Red Devils; talks over a deal that would have seen Van de Beek join Ndombele in Turkey hitting the buffers, much to United’s frustration.
Spurs flop gets the move he wanted
In addition to Bayern Munich, Ndombele’s new employers will also face Ten Hag’s Red Devils and Danish outfit FC Copenhagen in the Champions League, with the competition kicking off next week.
Both Ndombele and Sanchez will hope to make their Galatasaray debuts against Samunspor in Saturday’s Super Lig clash. Gala coach Okan Buruk, however, is pleading patience with his new midfielder.
“Our last transfer, Ndombele, arrived last week. I think he will reach his peak performance within one or two weeks,” Buruk tells Sporx.
”There are also two friends who will return from the national team, (Cedric) Bakambu and Davinson. Davinson will return from the national team, collect his belongings from England and be with us tomorrow.”
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