Tottenham Hotspur legend and fan favourite Graham Roberts has slammed Napoli loanee Tanguy Ndombele for his comments about Spurs and Antonio Conte.
What's the latest on Ndombele?
Signing for a club-record £55 million in 2019, the former Lyon sensation hasn't gone on to justify his price tag since joining under Mauricio Pochettino. Indeed, despite a few purple patches of form, with former boss Jose Mourinho once praising him, it's been too few and far between.
Ndombele has been criticised for his work ethic in a Lilywhites jersey, and former boss Conte didn't appear to favour the Frenchman almost immediately after joining Spurs.
The midfielder joined ex-club Lyon on a half-season loan last year but ultimately failed to do enough to earn a permanent move. Now, Ndombele is out on another temporary spell at Serie A league leaders Napoli – where he has started just six league games whilst making the vast majority of his appearances off the bench (WhoScored).
The 26-year-old now faces an uncertain future as most of the noises suggest Luciano Spalletti's side are hesitant over signing Ndombele permanently.
And speaking in an interview with SoFoot recently (via The Evening Standard), the player claimed:
"“There was no other solution with Tottenham and I’m happy I chose Napoli.
“With Conte there was no choice, I would have liked to demonstrate my value on the pitch but I was on the edge of the group. It was communicated to me from the first day of training with the team.
“I don’t know what my future will be, many fans ask me to return to Tottenham but the clubs will decide and Napoli have an option to buy."
Weighing in on Ndomble's comments about Spurs and Conte, club favourite Roberts rebuffed his admission and says the £200,000-per-week man must stop blaming everyone but himself.
Writing on Twitter, Roberts explained:
"Tanguy Ndombele talking a great game again – why are you not playing at Napoli, then? Blame Jose, then you blame Conte, then you blame Spurs, maybe look at yourself, pal. You have lots of talent but you need to stop blaming everyone but yourself."
Could Ndombele reinvigorate his Spurs career?
Ndombele has showcased his real talent and been noted for his close control at times, but the issue is consistency. Whoever comes in to replace Conte at Spurs could see an opportunity to get the very best out of Ndombele.
However, given Pochettino, Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Tottenham's most recent boss all failed to do so, it could well also be a case of chairman Daniel Levy cutting his losses.
