Both Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso have been linked with Tottenham exits this summer and their deals could be close to completion. On Friday, Lo Celso was on his way to Villarreal and football.londonunderstands the loan move will contain a break clause from Spurs in January, meaning they can end the loan if they receive a bid from someone else and the player agrees to the move.
The Argentine spent the second half of last season with the Spanish club and made enough impact for them to want him back on loan. Unai Emery's side were also linked with Ndombele and it seemed as though the duo could both be set to jet off to join Villarreal.
The French international was also linked to a number of other clubs abroad, as well as Newcastle. However, it now seems that Napoli will be the destination for the midfielder.
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football.londonunderstands that the Lilywhites are in preliminary talks with the Italian side. The deal is likely to be another loan move, with an option to buy.
Ndombele also spent the second half of the 2021/22 campaign on loan, returning to Lyon. However, the 25-year-old didn't make as much of an impact as he would've hoped.
Both players have struggled to get into Antonio Conte's side, at the beginning of last season and their game time didn't come too regularly. In his pre-match press conference on Friday, the Italian was asked about the duo, Harry Winks and Sergio Reguilon, in regards to their Tottenham futures.
"First of all we're talking about really good players, for sure. Ndombele and Lo Celso last season in January they went on loan, Ndombele to Lyon and Lo Celso to Villarreal," he explained.
"Every season there are different targets, this season there is the World Cup & many players ask to play regularly to give [them] more time to play games. For this reason, some can also push to go away and try to play in a more regular way."
The World Cup is likely to have made players question their futures even more and regular game time is likely to be a key reason as to why the duo would want to move. Whether it's because Villarreal didn't want Ndombele or Napoli have just got their first, Italy now seems to be his next destination.
This will be good for the players, but also good for Conte and the club, to move players on who aren't in the Italian's plans and get them off the books. However, Spurs could run into a problem next season.
If no one makes an offer that Lo Celso wants to take in January when there is a break clause and Napoli don't take up the option to buy, which is expected to be included with Ndombele, then Tottenham could be in the same position this time next year. Hopefully both players will thrive abroad, meaning their market value will go up and offers will come in.
However if that isn't the case, both players could end up back in N17, in the same position as this summer. All parties will hope this isn't the case and the duo will move on to start new chapters, at new clubs, but only time will tell how it pans out.
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