Tottenham could use Tanguy Ndombele in a shock potential swap deal for Roma’s Jordan Veretout, according to reports in the Italian media. Ndombele has struggled under successive Spurs managers and has seemed likely to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a while.
The Frenchman was booed off after being substituted during the 3-1 FA Cup win over Morecambe earlier in January.
It was widely reported in the aftermath that Ndombele was training alone. However, Antonio Conte refused to be drawn on the claims, saying: “He is having a training session and video analysis to keep good form and that is all.”
The Spurs boss urged the midfielder to ‘change opinions’ after fans’ frustration boiled over. “This type of situation, they are in football,” Conte said after that win.
“You have to be good to change the opinions. I was a player and it happened sometimes to me that someone was unhappy with my performance.
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“This is our life. It’s okay. We have to continue to work and try to be better next time.
“We have to know very well that if we perform well, the fans are happy. If you don’t perform well, the fans are not happy.”
Ndombele has long been linked with a departure and apparently requested to leave under Conte’s predecessor, Nuno Espirito Santo.
Italian newspaper Tuttosport (via Sport Witness) have claimed that he could be used as bait in a swap deal for Roma’s Veretout, who Conte apparently likes.
Meanwhile, Tuttosport claim that Roma are interested in a deal for Ndombele, which would be a surprise given Jose Mourinho’s relationship with the 25-year-old during their time together at the North London outfit.
Ndombele played 57 times under the Portuguese after securing a club-record £55m move under Mauricio Pochettino.
But the former Lyon star often found himself limited to substitute appearances or completely left out of the squad during Mourinho’s spell.
Mourinho was sacked by Spurs in April 2021 and took the Roma job two months later.
