Alasdair Gold has dropped an update on the respective futures of Tottenham Hotspur midfielders Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso.
What's the talk?
In a recent video posted on YouTube, the football.london journalist revealed that, with Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici planning an overhaul of the Tottenham squad this summer, the France and Argentina internationals are two players who look certain to be moved on at the end of the season.
[snack-amp-story url= "https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-levy-conte-paratici-thfc" title= "Read the latest Spurs news!"]
Regarding Spurs' potential outgoing transfers this summer, Gold said: "Ndombele and Lo Celso have to be moved on. Whether it's selling them or whether it's loaning them again, those are two players who - you'd think - are not going to be at Tottenham next season."
Time's up
While it is true that both Ndombele and Lo Celso have enjoyed something of a renascence since their loan moves to Olympique Lyon and Villarreal respectively, it is undeniable that, considering the sheer amount of money Tottenham spent on their signings, both players have been failures in north London.
Following Ndombele's £63m signing back in 2019, the 25-year-old struggled to live up to his hefty price tag, something which was all too evident from his performances in the first half of Tottenham's Premier League campaign this season.
Indeed, over his nine Premier League appearances this term, the £31.5m-rated France international scored one goal, registered one assist and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as made an average of a mere 0.1 interceptions, 1.1 tackles, 25.6 passes and won 3.6 duels per fixture.
These returns saw the £120k-per-week midfielder average a rather disastrous SofaScore match rating of a mere 6.58, ranking him as Tottenham's third-worst player in the top flight.
Meanwhile, over Lo Celso's own nine league outings this season, the £19.8m-rated Argentina international scored no goals, provided no assists and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as made an average of just 0.1 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 13.9 passes and won 2.7 duels per game.
These returns saw the £100k-per-week midfielder average an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.72, ranking him as Conte's sixth-worst performer in the Premier League.
And, while the 26-year-old has offered Tottenham slightly more than Ndombele in previous campaigns, it is nevertheless undeniable that Lo Celso has also failed to live up to his £55m transfer fee.
As such, while Tottenham are unlikely to recoup anywhere near their £118m outlay from the potential sales of the two players this summer, finally moving the duo on permanently would nevertheless appear an extremely wise move by Paratici - if for nothing else but to free up roughly £220k of Spurs' weekly wage budget - as the pair's time in north London is well and truly up.
AND in other news: Bid made: Paratici in talks for Spurs' 1st summer signing, no one's "identical to him"