According to the latest reports, Premier League side Manchester United were wondering what to do with their midfield talisman Paul Pogba over the summer and in that time lost out on signing Tanguy Ndombele. The French midfielder was incredible for Olympique Lyonnais last season and north London side Tottenham Hotspur swooped in and signed Ndombele for a club record transfer fee of €62m.
Manchester United endured quite a tumultuous season this term as they finished in sixth place in the Premier League table without any real positives. At the start of the season, Portuguese Jose Mourinho was in charge of the club but the 56-year-old’s philosophy and style of football did not go down well with the United faithful. The writing was on the wall for the ‘Special One’ when he failed to generate any results lackluster performances and Mourinho was given the sack in December.
The United board then turned to a familiar face in the form of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to handle the reigns at least until the end of the season. However, the Norwegian exceeded expectations with his first few games in charge getting United into the Champions League quarter-finals in dramatic fashion as well as stringing together positive results in the Premier League, coming closer to attaining a top-four berth.
This handed Solskjaer a three-year contract to manage the club on a permanent basis but the results were not as desired. United were dumped out of the Champions League and suffered a few horrific results in the Premier League which indicated that there is a lot of work that needs to be done by Solskjaer over the summer transfer window and beyond if United are to get back to the summit.
One player with a lot of speculation floating around him is French midfielder Paul Pogba. The 26-year-old World Cup winner was a key midfielder for Manchester United last season but has been linked with a move to either Real Madrid or Barcelona this summer transfer window. Pogba has indicated that he wants a new challenge and United are aware that he has the potential but there are still concerns on whether his attitude will improve or not.
Pogba was the top scorer for United last season and enjoyed a great spell under Solskjaer but his future is still in jeopardy and United have reportedly lost out on signing Tanguy Ndombele over the summer in the process. The 22-year-old midfielder had a host of top European clubs interested in his services because of the stellar displays he put in for Ligue 1 side Lyon last term, including Manchester United. However, the 20-time Premier League champions were too busy trying to sort out the issue for Pogba and lost out on signing Ndombele.
✍️ We are delighted to announce the signing of Tanguy Ndombele from Olympique Lyonnais.
🇫🇷 The France international central midfielder has signed a contract with the Club until 2025.#WelcomeTanguy ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/5GhqGi1q5g
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 2, 2019
The Champions League finalists Tottenham Hotspur eventually won the race to sign the talented midfielder and broke the bank to lure him to North London, as they look to add more quality to their squad. Ndombele became the first player to sign for Tottenham Hotspur ever since January 2018 in a €65m deal.
