Tottenham Hotspur could be offered the chance to sign World Cup winner Corentin Tolisso in a swap deal which would see Tanguy Ndombele leave for Bayern Munich, according to ESPN.
Two fabulous Frenchmen have endured seasons to forget – albeit for very different reasons.
Ndombele looked a perfect fit for Mauricio Pochettino’s free-flowing, high-octane football when he became Spurs’s £63 million record signing last summer.
But when Daniel Levy replaced the purist with a pragmatist, it always felt inevitable that a playmaker more renowned for his elegance rather than his effort would suffer the consequences.
And, ever since Jose Mourinho arrived in north London, barely a week has gone by without reports suggesting that there was a growing rift between player and coach.
Ndombele is yet to feature for Spurs since the Premier League season resumed.
He was ignored yet again by Mourinho during Tuesday’s victory over West Ham, and ESPN report that the former Lyon ace is determined to bring his unhappy spell in the English capital to an end ASAP.
But could Spurs kill two proverbial birds with one stone?
ESPN claims that Bayern could offer £40 million Tolisso in exchange for Ndombele and, in truth, the former looks far more suited to Mourinho’s style of play than the latter.
The 2018 World champion has barely kicked a ball this season due to injury.
But, when fit and firing, he has the power and the physique that Mourinho demands in his central midfielders, combining technique with tenacity in equal measure.
This, then, feels like a deal that suits all parties down to the ground.
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