Tanguy Ndombélé had a very difficult first season in the service of Tottenham Hotspur. The midfielder, who was taken over from Olympique Lyon for sixty million euros, was unable to live up to the high expectations in North London. Ndombélé finally proved his worth on Thursday evening. The Spurs by scoring the winning goal in the second preliminary round of the Europa League against the Bulgarian Lokomotiv Plovdiv (1-2). Manager José Mourinho is very pleased with Ndombélé’s contribution.

Record purchase Ndombélé was regularly associated with a departure from Tottenham in the recent period, but Mourinho now wants to know nothing more about it. “Tanguy is now in a development process,” the Portuguese coach said at the subsequent press conference. “Not last season, he was stuck in a situation where I didn’t see any development. But at the moment he’s training very well. He has recovered from his injury, is getting stronger physically and today he gave us what we needed in the last half hour”. The French midfielder made the winning goal in the 85th minute, after the Bulgarians took the lead in the 71st minute. In between, Harry Kane signed for the equalizer.

Mourinho is therefore planning to work intensively with Ndombélé. “I really believe in Tanguy,” stresses the Spurs manager. “I never doubted his qualities, never. To be honest, I sometimes doubted his motivation, his dedication and his professionalism. But now I really believe in him. He didn’t start the duel tonight, because he needs some more time. But I think Tanguy is going to do very well for us.”

As far as Mourinho is concerned, the fact that Ndombélé had adjustment problems is quite normal. “Football is full of players who have a bad start at a new club. Luka Modric was chosen by the supporters as the worst buy ever at Real Madrid. A few months later, he became champion of Spain, conquered the Champions League and was voted best player in the world. A talented player can always have adjustment problems. As long as the talent is there, beautiful things can always happen,” said Mourinho.