Tottenham’s N’Koudou likely heading to Monaco on loan without a purchase option

While we all love to see incoming transfers — something that hasn’t actually happened for nearly a year now — one of the biggest priorities for Tottenham Hotspur in this January transfer window is to clear out some of its dead wood. And by “dead wood” we mean Vincent Janssen and Georges-Kevin N’Koudou.

While Janssen has been linked with a loan move to Real Betis, this morning, according to two French sources, GKN might actually be the next Spurs player to depart. French newspaper L’Equipe (via Get French Football News) is reporting that Tottenham is close to a deal that would take the winger to Monaco on loan for the rest of the season. RMC (in reports I can’t confirm at the moment) is reporting the deal is already done.

The one critical piece of information that is not stated (yet) is whether this loan would include a mandatory purchase clause. I would imagine it would, since it’s been implied that these loans haven’t materialized up until now because Spurs are insisting that GKN and Janssen loans include them, but we just don’t know — it’s also possible that Daniel Levy is desperate enough to offload them that he’s willing to once again kick the can down the road to this summer’s window.

It’s been implied on numerous occasions that Spurs need to offload some players before bringing anyone new in. Whether or not that’s true or you believe it, that certainly seems to be the operational plan. N’Koudou is a lottery ticket that didn’t pan out for Spurs, and while it sucks that apparently a loan deal couldn’t be used as a makeweight for Youri Tielemans, at least it looks likely that he’ll be shipped off to a new club.

If it’s true, we may be getting an official announcement shortly.

Update: According to one journalist, there is no option to buy at the end of the season.