Just seven years after becoming Tottenham Hotspur's record signing, Tanguy Ndombele finds himself without a club.
Born in Longjumeau near Paris, Ndombele rose through the ranks at Guingamp and Amiens, before signing for Lyon in 2017. After enjoying two exceptional years with Les Gones, Tottenham forked out a fee worth upwards of £64 million to bring the midfielder to North London.
He went on to make just 91 appearances for the Lilywhites, before a series of uninspiring loan spells resulted in his contract with Spurs being mutually terminated.
Signing a two-year contract at Nice following his departure from the Premier League in 2024, he failed to impress in the South of France and has subsequently been unemployed since being released in the summer.
Tanguy Ndombele Struggled to Live Up to the Hype
Having made his debut in Ligue 2 for Amiens at the age of 18, Ndombele was revered as one of the up-and-coming French talents to watch out for. It wasn't long before Lyon came calling, and he was shining on the biggest stage in his home country.
After making 96 appearances for the Ligue 1 giants and helping them reach the Champions League knockout stages in 2018/19, Ndombele attracted interest from several of Europe's biggest clubs in the 2019 summer transfer window. Tottenham reportedly fended off competition from the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus to secure the signature of the then 22-year-old, who was also beginning to establish himself in the French national team under Didier Deschamps.
The North Londoners, who had just reached a Champions League final, paid a premium for the number eight. The £64 million fee surpassed their previous club record signing, Davinson Sanchez, who had joined from Ajax two years earlier for around £38 million.
This substantial outlay came with hefty expectations, and the pressure this created clearly got to the player. Towards the end of his debut campaign in English football, Spurs boss Jose Mourinho publicly criticised Ndombele for what the manager believed to be a lack of professionalism.
"He's a player with great talent," Mourinho told BBC Sport in 2020.
"He has to know he has to do much better and know I cannot keep giving him opportunities to play because the team is much more important."
This unprofessional tag stuck to Ndombele, with the next few Spurs managers not taking a liking to him either. Ryan Mason, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte all granted the player few opportunities to impress (barring a relatively promising 2020/21 season), while persistent fitness issues derailed his time in N17.
He was eventually loaned back to Lyon in an attempt to revitalise his career. After this stint failed, he spent a season each at Napoli and Galatasaray before Tottenham and his representatives agreed to terminate his agreement with the North London club in 2024.
Tanguy Ndombele's Post-Tottenham Career
Walking into the job market as a damaged asset, desperately in need of a permanent home, Nice offered him a lifeline back in France in the summer of 2024. Ndombele took this opportunity, signing a two-year deal with the Ligue 1 club.
Despite impressing in his first season under Franck Haise at the Allianz Riviera, the box-to-box midfielder struggled in his second campaign, making just 13 appearances across all competitions. This disappointing second year cost him a new contract, meaning he once again entered the market as a free agent.
He's yet to be offered a lifeline this time around, and TransferMarkt subsequently values the ex-Spurs man at just €2 million (£1.67 million).
According to the Sun, Ndombele went on trial at Russian club Rubin Kazan back in October. The Russian Premier League outfit seemingly gave the Frenchman an opportunity to prove that he's still at the level, but there have been no reports that he's been offered a contract since.
The 29-year-old remains available, but the longer he goes without finding a new club, the more difficult it becomes to envisage him returning to the pitch professionally.