Tanguy Ndombele's transformation under Jose Mourinho has been one of the most captivating sub plots of Tottenham Hotspur's tumultuous 2020/21 season. 

Following a tepid and troubling maiden campaign in English football, Ndombele has cut a reformed figure in Spurs' midfield this season and started to justify the hype that greeted his arrival. 

The France international has, for the most part, been released in an advanced midfield role, tasked with operating in the space behind Harry Kane. 

Having earned Jose Mourinho's trust, Ndombele has been truly breathtaking at times and earned a glowing reputation amongst Spurs supporters and neutrals for his acts of mischievous spontaneity. 

Cross his path at your peril. Ndombele's combination of dribbling technical and physicality is phenomenal. Just when a defender appears to have found the answer, he manages to bypass his opponent with seamless grace. 

There is still work to be done to increase his number of goal contributions, but all the core ingredients are in place for him to become a genuine superstar in the Premier League. 

However, Mourinho has deployed Ndombele in a deeper-lying midfield position in Spurs' last two outings against West Bromwich Albion and Everton in order to accommodate the likes of Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura, who have collectively shared the attacking midfield responsibilities.

Lamela was particularly impressive while operating in a number ten role against the Toffees on Wednesday night, providing an energy and zip to the attack that has so often been lacking of late. 

The quality of his display, which was awarded an 8/10 by football.london correspondent Alasdair Gold, will make it difficult for Mourinho to drop him for the trip to Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, but what does that mean for Ndombele?

Based on what we've seen from the past two games, Ndombele's license to dribble is likely to be a key knock-on effect of his drop into the midfield pivot. 

Whether that will hinder or help Spurs remains to be seen, but the early signs are there to suggest it will limit Ndombele's capacity to tease and tantalise with the ball at his feet. 

The 24-year-old midfielder has completed 2.4 dribbles and won 1.7 fouls per Premier League game this season, but he only managed two dribbles against West Brom and one against Everton - two games in which he dropped into a more defensive-minded role alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. 

He also won just one free kick for his side in each of his last two appearances. The drop in output in both those metrics may appear rather negligible when juxtaposed with his average for the season, but the context of the fixtures must be taken into account. 

The FA Cup clash with Everton was a pulsating, stretched encounter that presented plenty of opportunities for dribbling from midfield, as Tom Davies (3) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (5) proved with their tireless, forward-thinking energy. 

Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion showed little ambition to hurt Spurs last weekend and played like a side who are destined to be playing Championship football next season. 

Both encounters were tailor-made for sprinklings of Ndombele magic, yet his capacity to excite was restricted by the shackles of his new-look role. 

It remains to be seen if this tactical experiment is one that Mourinho will persist with, but his decision to opt for a fresh approach in the most advanced of his three central midfield positions looks likely to deprive Ndombele of his license to dribble. 

On current form, that's a sacrifice Mourinho will be willing to make to salvage a floundering season.