Former Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp made one audacious transfer claim earlier this week.
The 71-year-old believes that one-time Spurs and Mauricio Pochettino target Jack Grealish could be the final piece of the puzzle for Jose Mourinho, so much so that he’s urged the Portuguese to sign him in the summer.
Speaking to talkSPORT, he said:
“Grealish for sure, that is what they lack.
“We had Luka [Modric] in there, Pochettino had Eriksen, people like that can make them play – people that can make them tick.
“They need to recruit a couple of players in the summer.”
The Aston Villa skipper was ever so close to joining the north Londoners in the summer of 2018 with Daniel Levy offering £25m for his services, which was blocked by new majority owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.
Grealish was expected to be sold as the club were hit with financial problems under former chief Tony Xia but the Midlands side were bailed out and the attacking midfielder was subsequently handed a new five-year deal.
Who would you rather have in midfield for Spurs next season?
Tanguy Ndombele
Jack Grealish
Now that Villa are flirting with relegation, there’a good chance that the Englishman becomes available as he’s even more unlikely to get that England call-up he longs for if he’s back in the second tier.
But should Mourinho spend their scarce funds on him this summer? Probably not, no.
Really, the club already have a player primed to fulfil the ‘Luka Modric’ position – that being Tanguy Ndombele.
The £55m club-record signing has endured a tumultuous debut campaign at Spurs – playing just over 1,000 minutes in the Premier League all season.
In fact, he’s averaging merely 49 minutes per appearance in all competitions, though despite this he’s still found the net twice and has also provided four assists, via Transfermarkt.
His numbers from his final season at Lyon show that he’s got all the attributes to play a box-to-box role and emulate Modric in north London.
Per WhoScored, the Frenchman notched up seven assists and averaged 1.9 dribbles, 1.9 tackles, 1.4 key passes and 0.9 shots per game.
The Croatian’s best season in Spurs colours returned nine assists, which isn’t far off Ndombele’s total for last season.
He’s really due a shot at becoming a success here, rather than splashing the cash on Grealish, especially as the funds will be needed to bolster a faltering backline.
Ndombele? Well, to be mentioned in the same breath as Eriksen, Modric or even Grealish, first he has to lose weight, get fitter, think better, and get faster. Then he’s got to dominate midfield, as well as be a creator, and link in properly with his teammates around him. Then he’s got be consistent at this improbable high level. It’s a huge ask, and I seriously doubt if he and Mourinho can get all the above things right. If it happens then great, because we’ll have a world class player on our hands. But honestly, despite his obvious talent, I do doubt Ndombele’s character, or even his will/ambition, to succeed at our club; plus I don’t think anyone (Mourinho, we the fans, or Ndombele himself) actually knows the man’s best position yet.
Ndembele does not like mourinho,its also the same for him,mourinho does not seem to like his work rate and application.Ndembele does not want to work with him and would rather be somewhere else.A match made in hell.No way he will be with us next season.
Ndombele has the skills necessary to take Spurs to a higher level then Winks. He needs to be given proper playing time from Jose. But if they can’t get past their differences then there are apparently many high spending clubs which have him on their radar. We could sell him for a good price and reinvest the profit on a new RB. That’s the position which has weakened us the most.