Mourinho ready to hand Ndombele unlikely lifeline after Tottenham criticism

Roma boss Jose Mourinho is weighing up a reunion with Tanguy Ndombele despite his rocky relationship with the Tottenham star, according to reports in Italy.

Mourinho is believed to want a skilled operator in midfield after noticing Roma's shortcomings in this area during a mixed start to the Serie A season.

Ndombele, meanwhile, has failed to live up to the initial £54million Spurs paid to sign him from Lyon in 2019 and his future under Mourinho's successor, Nuno Espirito Santo, remains unclear.

Nuno brought the Frenchman in from the cold recently, but Calciomercato claim Mourinho has been alerted to his situation and could look to capitalise.

Tanguy Ndombele was publicly criticised by Jose Mourinho

Mourinho's criticism

The Italian outlet's report is certainly a surprising one, as Mourinho did not shy away from roundly criticising Ndombele during his 17 months in the Spurs hot seat.

After hauling Ndombele off at half-time in a 1-1 draw with Burnley last year, Mourinho said: "In the first half we didn't have a midfield.

"Of course I'm not speaking of [Oliver] Skipp because he's a kid of 19 who's played two hours in the last few days. I don't criticise him at all.

"But I'm not going to run away and I have to say he [Ndombele] has had enough time to come to a different level.

"I know the Premier League is difficult, and some players take a long time to adapt to a different league, but a player with his potential has to give us more than he is giving us."

Mourinho's public remarks were not well received by the 24-year-old and there were widespread reports in France of a total breakdown in relationship between player and manager.

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Ndombele's predicament

Things did not improve for Ndombele after Mourinho's sacking in April this year, with interim manager Ryan Mason continuing to leave him out of the matchday squad while citing fitness issues.

Indeed, there have never been doubts over Ndombele's ability, but there is a presiding sense he has never got up to speed with Premier League football since his arrival.

Nuno admitted he was "not in the right moment" last month and left him out of the squad for the first three games of the season.

Ndombele has since made four starts and scored his first goal of the season against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup last week.

There can be no doubt his career has stalled since arriving in north London and he has only made one appearance for France since 2019.

While linking up with Mourinho may not be his first choice option, Ndombele may feel a fresh start is what he needs to rekindle the form which lit up Ligue 1.