L’Equipe: Tanguy Ndombele did not train with France on Wednesday

When Tottenham Hotspur’s Tanguy Ndombele was substituted at halftime of Spurs’ 1-1 draw against Sheffield United on Saturday, the rumor that floated around Twitter and elsewhere was that Ndombele was suffering from a groin injury picked up in the first half. Mauricio Pochettino addressed it in the post-match interview, suggesting that Tanguy wanted to play on but that team doctors said that he could not continue.

Weirdly, Tottenham let Ndombele report for international duty with France, despite the injury. That seemed to suggest that whatever injury he picked up wasn’t that bad. However, a report in L’Equipe confirms that Tanguy did not participate in France’s training today ahead of tomorrow’s EURO 2020 qualifier against Moldova, making him a doubt for the match.

Didier Deschamps also downplayed the injury in comments to the press. Here’s the important bit, translated from French by the Google machine.

Didier Deschamps did not seem very worried at the arrival of Tanguy Ndombele, slightly injured, Monday in Clairefontaine. ”It’s not very bad,” said the coach of the Blues about a pain in ribs, felt by the Tottenham midfielder. The manager confirmed his feeling two days later, stating that the player was ”better”.

However, the former Lyon player (22 years old) did not train with his partners on Wednesday, the day before the match against the Euro 2020 against Moldova. He just worked with the physio for the first quarter of an hour, which was open to the media. “It was predictable,” said Deschamps. “If all goes well, he will be available for the second match.”

— L’Equipe

So, that’s good, I guess? Though it does seem a bit inexplicable that Spurs would let Ndombele report for international duty if he was carrying any sort of injury at all. I don’t really understand the rationale behind that. Considering how important Ndombele is to Tottenham’s midfield, it’s a curious decision as to why they would let him go.

If Ndombele is fit and ready to go by France’s second qualifier against Andorra on Sunday, then fine, whatever. I just know much better players than Ndombele have been held back by other managers for much less than a suspected groin niggle. And if this turns out to be more serious than we think or if he aggravates it in France, I’m going to want to burn the world down.