‘Everything possible’ – Club chief hints at permanent deal for Spurs star

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has hinted that the French club would be keen to sign Tanguy Ndombele permanently from Spurs.

Tottenham Hotspur broke their transfer record to sign the midfielder from Lyon in 2019 for £55m plus add-ons.

Ndombele struggled in the Premier League following this move as he has been regularly criticised by pundits and supporters.

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The Frenchman was given permission to return to Lyon last month. He rejoined Lyon on loan until the end of the season.

The deal for Ndombele includes an option to buy this summer. Last weekend, he played the full 90 minutes and provided an assist as Lyon beat Nice 2-0 in Ligue 1.

Aulas has suggested that if Lyon win the Europa League, they will be able to buy Ndombele:

“I’m very happy that [Ndombele] came back, with Bruno Cheyrou and Vincent Ponsot at the helm, because we had to discuss with the president of Tottenham who had bought him [for a large fee],” said Aulas (via RMC Sport).

“He participated in the commitment to come back by investing himself personally. He’ll have to miss a few games, it’s only the beginning… but if we win the Europa League, everything will be possible.”

Spurs manager Antonio Conte has admitted that the club selling Ndombele is proof they have made mistakes in the past:

“I think the club tried to do the best and you know very well that January is not simple, it’s not easy and I think the club tried to do the best. It’s not simple and then to sign players you don’t have a lot of options. That’s it.

“Yeah but I think we signed two new players. Rodrigo and Dejan and they are the right prospect of following Tottenham philosophy. Young talented players to improve and they are important players for the future but you need time to do this.

“For the players who went out on loan it was right. For sure it was strange to send out on loan four players and one transfer in January, it showed something went wrong in the past.

“Maybe there were some mistakes in the past. You have to buy players to reinforce your team but if you send away players that you bought in the last two or three years it means you did something wrong in the past.”