It is fair to say Napoli fans are excited at the arrival of Tanguy Ndombele after a video emerged on Twitter of the Tottenham midfielder arriving at Napoli’s HQ to undergo a medical – to the utter delight of the Serie A club’s support.
Ndombele, 25, is one of four first-team Tottenham players to have been forced to train by themselves. Some journalists have described the quartet as the ‘bomb squad’. Gio Lo Celso, another of the four players, has left for Villarreal.
So, with Ndombele now joining Lo Celso, only two of the four remain – in Harry Winks and Sergio Reguilon. It is a move that Tottenham accepted over the weekend. An initial loan fee of £850,000, with a permanent option included.
That permanent option is believed to be in the region of £25.3million. Now, Ndombele has turned up at Napoli for his medical ahead of a move, which could be announced later on on Thursday. A video showed fans celebrating his arrival.
Video: Napoli fans excited at arrival of Tottenham midfielder Ndombele
While Tottenham are ultimately losing a lot of money, compared to the club-record fee they paid for Ndombele – it is light at the end of the tunnel. Getting Ndombele off the wage bill is crucial. He is one of the club’s top earners.
It is believed Napoli will pay a considerable amount of Ndombele’s wages. Last season at Lyon, the permanent clause was similar to the fee Spurs paid to sign him. That fee was always going to be too much for a French side in Ligue 1.
But a £25.3million permanent clause, for an Italian club, is so much more likely. It is certainly a sign that finally, Tottenham are ending their collaboration with Frenchman Ndombele – and his Spurs nightmare is coming to an end.
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