Alasdair Gold has dropped an update on the future of Tottenham Hotspur loanees Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele.
What's been said?
In a recent Q&A on football.london, the Tottenham correspondent revealed that, despite both players impressing on their respective loans away from north London, neither midfielder looks to have a future under Antonio Conte - with Fabio Paratici expected to try and move both players on permanently this summer.
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Regarding the duo's future at the Spurs, Gold said: "I think it would be tough now for both players to feature under Conte.
"Lo Celso should have suitors this summer as he has impressed in the Champions League against some big sides, but Ndombele could be harder to get the kind of money for that Spurs will want in return for their club-record signing. Another loan might be the only way forward as he just doesn't seem to be a Conte player."
Conte must axe Lo Celso and Ndombele
Considering the sheer amount of money Tottenham spent on the signings of the €60m (£55m) Lo Celso and the €72m (£60m) Ndombele, coupled with the pair's extremely poor returns for Spurs, the argument that Conte must do all he can to rid himself of the duo this summer is an easy one to make.
Indeed, over Lo Celso's nine Premier League appearances this season, the £19.8m-rated dud failed to make any sort of mark for Tottenham, scoring no goals, registering no assists and creating two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of just 0.1 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 13.9 passes and winning 2.7 duels per game.
These returns saw the £100k-per-week Argentina international who John Wenham dubbed a "disaster" average a disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.72, ranking him as Conte's sixth-worst player in the English top flight.
Meanwhile, over Ndombele's nine league outings this term, the £31.5m-rated flop also failed to impress, scoring one goal, registering one assist and creating one big chance, in addition to making an average of a mere 0.1 interceptions, 1.1 tackles, 25.6 passes and winning 3.6 duels per fixture.
These returns saw the £120k-per-week France international who - alongside Lo Celso - Wenham also labelled "embarrassing" average an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.58, ranking him as Tottenham's third-worst performer in the Premier League.
As such, considering the fact that Lo Celso and Ndombele are costing Spurs around £220k-per-week in wages, not to mention their combined £115m transfer fee, it is clear for all to see that both players simply must be moved on at the end of the current campaign - as the money generated from their sales - as well as the significant amount of wage budget their departures would free up - is something that could be put to much better use by Conte and Paratici this summer.
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