Jose Mourinho has played down Tanguy Ndombele’s cameo for Tottenham Hotspur last night.
The French midfielder came on at half-time during the 0-0 draw away at Bournemouth, replacing Giovani Lo Celso at the break.
It was only Ndombele’s second game for Tottenham since football resumed three weeks ago, having been an unused substitute in most games during Project Restart.
And the former Lyon powerhouse seemed to make a difference to Spurs’ performance, even if it technically wasn’t a game-changing sub by Mourinho.
There has been speculation about Ndombele refusing to play for the Portuguese coach over the past few weeks, amid suggestions that the two don’t see eye to eye.
Here’s what Mourinho made of his display last night, telling Football London: “The feeling was we are going to have the ball, going to have space to play, not space to penetrate but space to play, to have the ball and with the midfield players I had on the bench: Skipp, Gedson, the kid Harvey, Tanguy I felt he was the one with that talent to move the ball. I think he was the same level as the team, not better and not worse.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Mourinho starts him on Sunday, if Lo Celso is absent.
The Lilywhites welcome Arsenal in a North London derby and such a big occasion might just bring the best out of the big midfielder.
Then again, Mourinho clearly doesn’t fancy him all that much right now, so seeing him on the bench again wouldn’t be a major surprise.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
