Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho has been told that he must keep Tanguy Ndombele at the club this summer, per The Transfer Window podcast.
The Spurs ace has been linked with a possible move to Barcelona in recent months.
However, Duncan Castles, of the podcast, says that Jose Mourinho has been informed that Spurs do not intend to sell the France international in the coming transfer window.
Ndombele was Spurs’ club-record signing when he arrived from Lyon, the north London club paying £53.8 million to secure his signature.
And Castles has made it clear that the north London club do not intend to cash in on the player.
He said: "My understanding is that [Ndombele] will remain at the club and basically Mourinho's been told this player is of importance to Tottenham and they're not prepared to take a loss on him.
"So he will have to solve the problem with management and coaching and I think the expectation has been that he will be part of the squad for the coming season and that the interesting part is to see how he responds to that, what Mourinho is capable of drawing from him.
"He has been open in the press and openly critical of the player, that's a tactic that has worked for Mourinho in the past, it's part of his management style, but you can certainly argue that it has failed to work as his career has gone on and as players have changed and had higher profile, social media which is something of a bug-bear to Mourinho."
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
Ndombele has to be given the chance to spend some real time playing under Mourinho.
He joined the club when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge but, under the Portuguese, he has struggled somewhat.
Indeed, while playing in Mourinho’s team, he has made just five starts in the Premier League, though his talent is evident.
Against Manchester City, in a game in which he made a 20-minute cameo, he provided a stunning assist for Heung-Min Son, dropping a shoulder and beating his man before threading a superb ball through to the South Korea international.
He has the ability to be world class; Mourinho just needs to ensure that such performances become the norm.