Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele and head coach Jose Mourinho’s relationship at the club looks to have taken a turn for the worse.
According to a report from TF1, Ndombele and Mourinho are no longer speaking after the player told the Portuguese manager he no longer wanted to play under him.
Ndombele looked a huge talent at his former team Lyon, but has endured a difficult first campaign at Spurs, with his future now in doubt after the reported outburst with Mourinho.
Ndombele may be frustrated at how things have gone under the former Manchester United boss, but one imagines Tottenham supporters won’t be happy with the reports.
However, Mourinho dismissed suggestions of a disagreement, saying: “No. On the bench was Tanguy, was [Ryan] Sessegnon, Toby [Alderweireld], [Jan] Vertonghen. Who else? Gedson [Fernandes] and they didn’t play and that’s football. For me, there is nothing.
“I have attacking players on the bench, [Erik] Lamela and Harry [Winks], two great players to bring and then wings to give us more consistency. This situation of the five changes, some people maybe think that you have to do the five changes, you don’t have to do it, you have the chance to do it.
“I felt that the team was fine. I never believed that 2-0 was a completely safe result because of course they were trying everything and one goal could change our state of mind and give them the motivation they need for the last minutes so I decided to keep the team stable and three changes were enough.”
Mourinho added: “It’s not just him, I try to do the best for my team, I cannot start the game with 12 or 13 players, I try to do the best for the team.
“Sometimes I apologise to my players that are not my first choice because I feel the work in training is something that deserves more than what I give, but I have to do my job the best I can and I felt for these two matches I didn’t need him.”
Tottenham got back to winning ways last night with a 2-0 win over West Ham, and Harry Kane was even on the scoresheet.