Ndombele rejoins Lyon on loan, ending miserable Tottenham spell

Tanguy Ndombele is back at Lyon.

The French midfielder rejoined the Ligue 1 side on transfer deadline day, ending a challenging stint at Tottenham Hotspur.

Ndombele returns to his native country on an initial loan until the end of the season, for which Lyon will pay €1.42 million. The deal reportedly includes a purchase option for €65 million in the summer.

The 25-year-old originally left Lyon for Spurs in the summer of 2019, making a £55-million move to north London amid much fanfare. But the talented midfielder's time in the Premier League never went according to plan, with extended spells either stapled to the bench or out of the squad entirely becoming common.

Ndombele ultimately made 91 appearances for the club, scoring 10 goals.

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte decided earlier in January that Ndombele was not a good fit for his project, according to Charlie Eccleshare of The Athletic.

The move kicked off a busy day for Tottenham, who have since signed Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus. Dele Alli, Bryan Gil, and Giovani Lo Celso could all leave the north London club.

Lyon, meanwhile, were in the market for midfield reinforcements after selling Bruno Guimaraes to Newcastle United for a potential €50.1 million. In addition to Ndombele, the French club added Romain Faivre from Brest to bolster their ranks in the center of the pitch.