Fabrizio Romano: Lyon could trigger buy option of Tottenham Hotspur loanee Tanguy Ndombele
Speaking in an interview with RMC Sport (h/t Fabrizio Romano), Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas has suggested that his club could activate the buy option to sign Tottenham Hotspur loanee Tanguy Ndombele permanently in the future. The midfielder returned to his old club in the January transfer window in an attempt to kickstart his stagnated career.
Lyon signed Ndombele on a loan transfer last month for a fee of £1.2million. They have the option to facilitate a permanent move if they would activate the £54million clause in the agreement. They had initially sold him to Tottenham for £63million, but he never got going during his time at N17.
Aulas has expressed that they cannot make a decision just yet as more matches have to be played to assess their circumstances. However, he did say that a permanent transfer cannot be ruled out if they could win the Europa League.
“We have to let a few games pass by. But if we win the Europa League, anything is possible. We needed to negotiate with Tottenham a lot – it wasn’t easy.”
Could it happen?
With all due respect to Lyon, their chances of winning the Europa League is very low when one looks at the teams in contention to win the trophy. However, football is unpredictable, and there is always a chance that they can lift the title even if it is minute.
It would be a massive boost if the optional clause is triggered, but the most probable case could be a situation where the French side would try to renegotiate the transfer fees. Given that Ndombele has struggled to impress at Spurs, the club will do well to get top dollar for the player.
That being said, it is at least good for us since the Ligue 1 chief has not ruled out a permanent move for the Frenchman. It would not be surprising had he stated otherwise, considering how the central midfielder performed in the final days of his playing career for us.
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It will be interesting to see how this situation develops in the months ahead of the summer transfer window. We need the 25-year-old to use his home country and familiar surroundings to find his feet once again. We cannot rule that out since it is with Les Gones that he initially rose to the top prompting us to sign him in the first place.
Let’s hope to see that outcome as money from the Spurs loanee’s signing can go a long way to back Antonio Conte. We need reinforcements in many areas, which is highlighted by our recent damning losses. But let’s wait and see whether the Lyon chief would trigger the buy option or not.
