Tanguy Ndombele finally ended his difficult season at Tottenham Hotspur by securing a loan move back to his previous club Lyon on deadline day.
The midfielder had signed for a record breaking €60m (£53.8m) in 2019 from the Ligue 1 side, but has found himself back at the Groupama Stadium two-and-a-half years later.
Ndombele was also keen to insert an option to buy at the end of the season as part of the deal, which could certainly hint towards the end of his Spurs career.
The 25-year-old made his debut over the weekend in Lyon’s 2-0 defeat to Monaco, coming on as a half-time substitute but showing promising signs nonetheless.
But it could have been a different side he was pulling on new colours for, as he revealed that talks were held with Paris Saint-Germain over a potential move to the Parc des Princes last month.
Will Ndombele secure a permanent move away from Spurs in the summer? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
“I was linked with Paris, there were discussions," he told Telefoot via GFFN .
“A transfer is complicated. They quickly made me understand that. I listened and respected their decision. I couldn’t do anything differently.
“Maybe I was never destined to go there. Afterwards, maybe in the future, one day, I don’t know.”
Ndombele always looked destined for a move away from north London once he had been booed off by his own fans in the FA Cup win over Morecambe.
A switch to PSG would have made sense, given Mauricio Pochettino was the man to bring Ndombele to Spurs from Lyon, and he still clearly remains a big fan of the player.
However, with Pochetino supposedly unhappy in the French capital and also being heavily linked with the permanent manager position at Manchester United, it’s looking increasingly likely that he won’t be there ahead of next season.
Either way, the club remains keen to strengthen in that area of the pitch, especially since Georginio Wijnaldum has failed to live up to expectations following his summer switch from Liverpool.
It would certainly be another step up for Ndombele, though it's perhaps a blessing in disguise that he is now able to try and rebuild his career at Lyon, where he flourished previously.
There is certainly a lot to suggest that a summer move could yet happen for Ndombele to go to PSG, should he thrive in the second half of the season.
Despite not completely closing the door on his Tottenham career, Ndombele looks unlikely to play a big part in Antonio Conte's squad going forward.
Speaking after the sale of Dele Alli, as well as sanctioning the loan moves of Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Bryan Gil, Conte said: "For sure, it was strange. It was strange to send on loan, and sell one player, in the January transfer window.
"It was strange because it means something went wrong in the past.
“It was strange, I repeat in January to send four on loan, and sell one player. It means maybe in the past, you have to see what you did. And maybe to understand that there were some mistakes in the past."
