Georges-Kevin Nkoudou has been something of a forgotten man ever since his move to Spurs in 2016, and now the Frenchman could be set for another loan spell.
TRT Sport report via TEAMtalk that the former France U-21 winger could be set to join Besiktas on loan for the season, Nkoudou’s third spell away from north London after brief tenures with both Burnley and Monaco.
After joining Tottenham three years ago for a reported fee of £9m according to BBC Sport, there was some excitement that Nkoudou could flourish into the next big thing for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Indeed, before joining the Premier League side Nkoudou had made a decent reputation for himself in his home country, amassing 81 appearances for both Marseille and Nantes before turning 21 and looking like a player that could one day represent Les Bleus at a senior level having played for every age group for France.
But then Tottenham came knocking, and like many young Europeans making the premature move to the Premier League, it simply didn’t work out for Nkoudou. The winger was constantly left out of matchday squads as well as first-team training, and in total the now 24-year-old attacker has made just 27 appearances for Spurs, playing just 592 minutes as numbers from Transfermarkt show.
Although Nkoudou cost Spurs just £9m, his transfer should serve as a lesson for the club in how to buy young talent, how to sign the right players with the potential to go far in the game, and how to bring names in that can actually add to the existing squad rather than serve as extra padding.
Nkoudou has seen his once-promising career fade to dust when at Tottenham for several reasons, and his time at the club should be used for future reference for Spurs when looking at young players to sign looking forward.