Real Madrid Transfers: The pros and cons of Tanguy Ndombele

As Real Madrid enter LaLiga’s Matchday 2 with three injured midfielders, Madridistas are wondering about options on the transfer market who could bolster Los Blancos’ depth in the middle of the park. Tottenham standout Tanguy Ndombele seems ready to leave the club for a situation that suits him better, as he has never seemed to settle with Spurs despite being their best midfielder, by some distance.

Spurs could have trouble finding suitors for Ndombele at this stage of the market, since most clubs are only willing to spend money on an elite attacker. (Yes, Real Madrid are among them.) There has even been talk of a possible loan with an option to buy to give Real, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, or any other interested club some additional flexibility. Swap deals may also be possible.

Real have been linked to Ndombele, and, this morning, Julian Maynard reported that there are two interested clubs, with the biggest suitor, as of right now, coming from LaLiga.

Many fans are assuming that would be Real Madrid, but there are a couple of reasons why I don’t think Real are as seriously interested as, perhaps, Atletico Madrid or even Barça (despite the fact that a signing would be seemingly inconceivable for such a financially-stricken club).

Real Madrid most likely won’t move for anyone until Kylian Mbappe’s situation is cleared

Real Madrid have been notoriously inactive these last two transfer windows. With literally zero expenditures and nearly 200 million euros in sales, they have made more transfer profit than anyone. Martin Odegaard and Raphael Varane were two high-profile departures this summer, with Achraf Hakimi and Sergio Reguilon among the notable sales in 2020.

As such, Florentino Perez is fully focused on Kylian Mbappe, who would single-handedly boost this team more than literally any other player on this planet. Real Madrid have not been aggressive in pursuing Mbappe, since they don’t want to anger PSG. But they could make more of a push at the end of the window if desperate times call for desperate measures.

Why do I bring up Mbappe? Real Madrid need midfield depth, but they only have so many players they can register. They have to plan one space for Mbappe. And can they make space for two? I have my doubts, considering the players they want to sell either refuse to leave or have no suitors anyway. Really, who would want to sign Isco, Gareth Bale, or Marcelo on these wages in this economy? How many legitimate offers were there for Alvaro Odriozola, Mariano, Dani Ceballos, Jesus Vallejo, and Luka Jovic?

So logistically, Real may have to pass up on the opportunity to sign Ndombele, even if we assume they wanted him in the first place.

Tanguy Ndombele is good enough for Real Madrid, but is he the right fit?

If we just look at Tanguy Ndombele as a footballer, there are reasons to really like him as a prospective Real Madrid player, but there are also some reasons to be wary. Ndombele isn’t a two-way midfielder like Luka Modric or Fede Valverde. He plays more box-to-box offensively than defensively. The Frenchman is not a defensive midfielder, nor is he someone who is going to add many goals to the attack; he’s never scored more than three in a league season.

So Ndombele would have to be happy with being a backup at Real Madrid who only plays against teams where Los Blancos need to unlock the defense or have a good ball-carrier on the right-hand side to give Modric some rest. That’s a valuable role, but couldn’t Real get that same production from Ceballos? Not that Ceballos is better than Ndombele, but he’s only a year older, content with being a backup, and familiar with LaLiga.

There’s a lot Ndombele does well, though. If we are just talking about ball-carrying, dribbling ability, and technical skill, Ndombele is one of the best there is on the ball. He completed more than two dribbles per game in the Premier League last season for Tottenham, per WhoScored.com, and he put up some truly jaw-dropping dribbling numbers as a prospect at Lyon before joining Spurs.

At 24, Ndombele is no longer a prospect, but he still has room to grow. More importantly, you get the feeling he was never truly able to shine under Jose Mourinho at Tottenham, and his desire to leave the club likely reflects the fact that he knows he would be a much better fit somewhere else. Whether that “somewhere else” is Real Madrid, though, I have my doubts. But if the big question Madridistas have is defensive, Ndombele was consistently averaging over three defensive interventions per game in Ligue 1. It’s possible he could provide more at Real than Spurs, given the additional motivation players have when they join Los Merengues.

Ndombele is a very talented player. But Real Madrid are looking at other very talented midfielders who are younger and have more upside as future signings in Monaco’s Aurelian Tchouameni and, especially, Eduardo Camavinga of Rennes. Ndombele could be a great opportunity if Real can acquire him for one year on loan, since the risk is so slow. But they have to wait to see Mbappe’s situation before making a move. It’s simply too hard to envision them selling the players they want to sell in order to clear squad space.

While Ndombele could be a good midfield signing and all of his cons are more relative cons than non-negotiable, this is a deal that probably sounds better on paper than in reality. Ndombele seems more likely to join a club with more space and grace for him, rather than Real.