Fabrizio Romano has dropped an update on the future of Tottenham Hotspur duo Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele.
What's the latest?
In a recent post on Twitter, the Italian journalist revealed he has been informed that Villarreal are in ongoing discussions concerning deals for both the 26-year-old Argentina international and the 25-year-old France international.
The transfer insider went on to state that, while both moves are initially thought to be on a loan basis, each deal looks set to include an option to buy clause that could become an obligation to purchase if specific clauses are met.
In his tweet, Romano said: "Tottenham and Villarreal are working on Gio Lo Celso, top priority and now closer… and also discussed Tanguy Ndombele in separated deals. Been told both deals are discussed on loan with buy option clause that could become mandatory in case of some targets achieved."
Huge boost for Conte
While Fabio Paratici's business in the transfer window has been incredibly impressive so far this summer, with the Italian bringing no less than six new faces into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium over the last five weeks, with roughly three weeks remaining of the market, the sporting director must now turn his focus towards shifting some of the club's deadwood.
Indeed, at present, Spurs have eight central midfielders on their books, with three of these - Harry Winks, Lo Celso and Ndombele - having been made surplus to requirements by Antonio Conte earlier this summer.
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And, with it being reported that Spurs will need to move a number of their unwanted players on before Paratici is able to make further additions to Conte's first-team squad over the remainder of the window, Romano's claim that both the Frenchman and the Argentine could be on the way out of north London is sure to come as a huge boost to the 52-year-old manager.
Indeed, neither Lo Celso nor Ndombele have particularly impressed for Spurs following their respective £27.2m and £63m moves to north London - something that was highlighted by both players' performances in the first half of the 2021/22 campaign.
Over Ndombele's nine Premier League appearances in 2021/22, the £27m-rated midfielder completed an average of just 25.6 passes, lost possession of the ball 9.7 times and was dribbled past an average of 0.8 times per game, with these metrics seeing the 25-year-old average a SofaScore match rating of just 6.58 - ranking him as Spurs' second-worst performer in the league.
Meanwhile, over Lo Celso's nine league fixtures last term, the £19.8m-rated Argentine completed an average of a mere 13.9 passes, lost possession six times and was beaten by an opponent 0.7 times per outing, with these returns seeing the 26-year-old average a SofaScore match rating of 6.72 - ranking him as Tottenham's sixth-worst performer in the top flight.
As such, when taking into account the duo are reported to be earning a combined £270k-per-week in north London, it is easy to see why both Conte and Paratici would be keen to move both players on this summer - leading us to believe that Romano's latest update will delight everyone involved with the club.