Tanguy Ndombele’s loan move from Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur to Napoli left Antonin Barak ‘very angry’ as it meant he missed out on the chance to join the Serie A winners.
To make matters worse, Napoli would cruise to the Scudetto that season. Barak watching on with his head in his hands as the streets of Southern Italy turned a shade of blue to match the Mediterranean sea.
The Czech Republic international was supposed to join Luciano Spalletti’s side in the summer of 2022, only to see Tanguy Ndombele take his place in the Napoli squad instead after Tottenham accepted a loan deal for the out-of-favour Frenchman.
Tottenham misfit won Serie A with Napoli
“After the 2021/22 season, I was very close (to joining Napoli). It was practically already done!” Barak tells Corriere dello Sport.
“But unfortunately, in the end, everything got complicated. We were unable to close (the deal) in June and Napoli delayed the sale of Fabian Ruiz, in whose place I should have arrived.
“In the end, Napoli received an offer to bring in midfielder Ndombele from Tottenham, almost for free. I was very angry at the time.
“But, in hindsight, I don’t blame them at all for choosing that path.”
Ndombele started only eight Serie A games during a historic campaign at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
And the signs suggest he will be lucky to match even that measly figure in his new home over in Turkey.
Tanguy Ndombele now struggling in Turkey
Ndombele, farmed out on loan again by Spurs over the summer, has only four fleeting appearances to show for his time at Galatasaray thus far, comfortably overshadowed by former Tottenham team-mate Davinson Sanchez in Istanbul.
Galatasaray have a £12.8 million option-to-buy clause in Ndombele’s contract. But, unless something changes quite dramatically, do not expect them to trigger it.
Barak, meanwhile, eventually joined Fiorentina instead from Hellas Verona in a deal worth around £10 million.
The post Midfielder was 'very angry' when Tottenham ruined his hopes of dream transfer appeared first on HITC.
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