Report: Lyon wants to extend Ndombele loan for an extra year

Tanguy Ndombele is finding life a little easier now that he’s returned to Lyon on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. He’s slotted right back in to the starting lineup as a defensive midfielder, and his performances have been good enough that, according to one report from Jeunesfooteaux, Lyon would like to keep him around past the end of his loan.

The problem, according to the report, is that Lyon currently can’t afford his €65m purchase clause, and certainly not if they don’t qualify for the Champions League this season. That’s looking increasingly unlikely — Lyon are currently 10th, and a solid nine points out of second. But Spurs aren’t especially keen to bring him back either, especially the way things ended with him casually strolling off the pitch in his last match for Spurs.

The solution is apparently for Lyon to push Tottenham to consider a one year further extension of his loan that would last through the 2022-23 season. Lyon are currently in negotiations to do just that.

It seems like a solution that would be equitable for everyone involved — Lyon gets another year of Tanguy, while Spurs get his wages off the books for another 12 months, although they’d clearly like Lyon to just buy him outright. That’s certainly still an option, though there’s little chance that Spurs would be able to get the full €65m for him.

Jeunesfooteaux suggests another option — adding a clause that would create a mandatory purchase if Lyon qualifies for the Champions League in 2022-23. It would be a bit of down the road can-kicking, but it could possibly be seen as an acceptable hedge for Spurs if Tanguy’s market still isn’t where they hope it is this summer.

A hefty transfer fee for Tanguy would of course be better for Spurs as money is fungible and that could be used to bolster summer incoming transfers, but this would be an acceptable backup solution if nobody wants to spend a decent fee. I doubt we’ll see any resolution of this anytime soon, though.