Tottenham Hotspur’s new signing Tanguy Ndombélé from Olympique Lyonnais is already one of the club’s favorite for many faithful fans, but who is he, this  twenty-two year old French footballer ?

Lots of youngsters are only starting their life at twenty-two but in football the players are already responsible adults. So who is this newcomer, the latest addition to  the North London’s club ?

Tanguy Ndombélé  Alvaro, is a French footballer(midfielder) born in France(Longjumeau, near Paris) 28 December 1996. His parents  are of Congolese descent. He moved to Brittany whe he was just fourteen, in order to play for Guingamp but he wasn’t offered a professional contract at the end of his development . How come for a player of this calibre?

It’s true that in football things can change for better or worse very quickly; that’s why the destiny of this young unkown player changed in just four days and two Champions League games against Manchester United. Two games watched by France’s national team manager Didier Deschamps and these 180 minutes of grace,  gave him a seat in the  Bleus squad.

It should’t have been so…the player had no experience, played only one season for Lyon and had nothing of Karim  Benzema’s or  Kyllian Mbappé’s  outstanding career starts.

The youngster kicked his first balls in  his home nearby FC  Epinay Athlético, scoring goals despite vomitting in his father’s car(fragile stomach, let’s hope that now he can travel without any problem).

The Guingamp experience, didn’t turn out well: “Tanguy was a nice kid, always having fun but studies weren’t his priority; he was kind, respectful but also lazy. He hated to wake up early and was eating too much, we had to be very severe with him” said Lionel Rouxel, his former school director(L’Equipe, 2017).

The time for a change had come  and taking advantage of Amiens SC loss of professional status, the teenager joined the reserves(2014). It didn’t go well either; the club privileged the former professionals and Tanguy started to feel the injustice, for he was one of the best.

Nordine Baaroun his former teacher, tried to convince several clubs of the player’s worth( Caen, Auxerre,Angers) but the answer was always the same; “he’s good but he’s overweight, got to loose at least seven kilos, he’ll never make it”.

When Amiens knew about their teacher’s reprehensible activities, they immediately fired him, but this was what the teenager needed, more adversity…he lost several kilos, worked hard and showed how he can rebounce on the spot.

That’s why Christophe Pélissier first team manager decided to give him a chance to play in Ligue 2. A year later Amiens won a place in Ligue 1 and Lyon signed him as Corentin Tolisso’s successor.

Lyon weren’t the only ones to want him… Tottenham and Manchester United were on the player’s pursuit but Lyon didn’t want to hear anything about it. “His progression is astonishing” said Lyon’s manager Bruno Génésio, he works hard and eats healthy food.” His former L2 coach was baffled by the player’s intelligence:”he thrives in advercity, he said. The more the better, he likes challenges.”

After signing his first professional contract, Tanguy talked about his game qualities:” I think that I have good technical skills, percussion and I like the style box to box.”

Anyhow, here’s Didier Deschamps answer when the journalists asked about Ndombélé’s first call at the national team:” Tanguy Ndombélé? He’s with us because he can do everything. He’s strong, very technical and he s now more regular than before.”

The story is now to be continued in North London…a new life, new challenges and new adventures…to be continued

TANGUY NDOMBELE • Welcome to Tottenham • Full Season Show • 2019ᴴᴰ – YouTube

Categories: Biography

Tags: 2019 Summer window transfers, Tanguy Ndombélé, Tottenham Hotspur, Transfers 2019