José Mourinho said Tanguy Ndombele can fire an upturn in his fortunes at Tottenham in much the same way Luka Modric did at Real Madrid and complained about why it is always a drama when he does not select a big-name player.
Ndombele was signed by Mourinho’s predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino, for a club-record £55m last summer but, hampered by injuries, he has had a stop-start season. Mourinho has started the midfielder only six times in all competitions since taking over last November and, post-shutdown, has left him as an unused substitute against Manchester United and West Ham.
Before Thursday’s visit to Sheffield United, Mourinho would only say that Ndombele would be in the squad and, based on recent evidence, it is clear the Frenchman is fourth in the central midfield pecking order behind Moussa Sissoko, Harry Winks and Giovani Lo Celso.
Mourinho has been critical of Ndombele, namely about his fitness, but retains faith in the player’s ability. The manager recalled how Modric, whom he took from Spurs to Real in 2012, endured such a torrid start he was voted by Marca readers as the worst La Liga signing of the season. Modric would go on to win four Champions League titles with Real, one league title and also be named as the player of the 2018 World Cup with Croatia.
“I believe Ndombele can turn it around,” Mourinho said. “Football is full of players who have made difficult starts and then ended well. When Modric arrived at Real Madrid, after six months he was labelled the worst signing in their history. So when the talent is there many things can happen with adaptation.
“In many other clubs it looks like it’s normal to have great players on the bench: United, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich. At Tottenham I feel is every time a top player is on the bench, it’s a drama. The players and everybody else have to understand it’s not a drama.
“I hope next season we have even more top players on the bench because it means we have to be bigger than where we are now. No problem with Tanguy, no story. We are a big club with very talented players.”
Mourinho was asked how Ndombele felt about his season at Spurs. “That’s a question for him,” he replied. “I know him for six months and six months is not enough to find or describe his psychological profile. One thing is feelings, another is the reality. I am not a genius to within six months get inside a person’s brain, to describe 100% his feelings.”