Tottenham’s Mousa Dembele could be on his way out of the club in the summer as there is concrete interest from Serie A, with Napoli, AC Milan and Inter Milan all linked with making a move for him. Dembele will turn 31 before the next season kicks off and this could be the right time for him to seek a fresh challenge.
The Belgian, who is currently in Russia for the World Cup, is valued at £30m by Spurs. Should Dembele leave Tottenham this summer, the north London club will have a big task at hand to replace one of their regular players.
Tottenham have been credited with showing an interest in Lyon’s Tanguy Ndombele, and here’s why he could be the perfect player to replace Dembele.
Dembele has been one of the most crucial players for Tottenham in recent years and anyone replacing him should have similar traits.
The Belgium international is a player who is known for his excellent dribbling ability and he also has a great sense of positioning to showcase the defensive side of his game. Finding a player with such a diverse skill-set will not be easy for Spurs but Ndombele fits the required profile very well.
The 21-year-old is a skilled dribbler, who averaged 2.5 dribbles per game in Ligue 1 last season. In comparison, Dembele completed 2.4 dribbles per match in the Premier League in the 2017/18 campaign.
Ndombele is also a very effective tackler and a good interceptor in the midfield, much like Dembele. The French midfielder averaged 2 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game last season as compared to Dembele’s 1.3 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game last term.
While Ndombele shares similar traits with Dembele, there is more to the emerging midfielder. Despite being just 21 years old, he is already accomplished in various aspects of the game.
Ndombele is a very agile player, who can tackle, dribble and even find key passes to unlock a defence. In terms of his attacking ability, the French player will be an upgrade over Dembele as Ndombele gets involved in attacks a lot more.
Ndombele averaged 1.4 key passes per game as he finished the 2017/18 season with 7 assists to his name.
These numbers show that Ndombele can be a threat going forward. Due to his dribbling ability, the Lyon man also gets fouled a lot which results in his side getting free-kicks in dangerous positions. Tottenham will do very well to sign Ndombele, who looks destined for great things in near future.
