Nuno says 'not my job to convince players' after Ndombele exit talk

December 29, 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo Pool via REUTERS

Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo said it is "not his job to convince" players to play for the Premier League club, after media reported that record signing Tanguy Ndombele wants to leave.

British media reported that Ndombele, who joined Tottenham from Olympique Lyonnais for a club record 54 million pounds ($74 million) in July 2019, wants to leave after failing to impress, having scored eight goals in 75 games in all competitions.

The 24-year-old did not play any pre-season friendlies under Nuno and was left out of last weekend's victory over Manchester City, as well as their 25-man squad for the Europa Conference League playoff tie.

Nuno confirmed that the midfielder will not feature in Sunday's league trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

"What happened in the past I can't even think about, I don't mention out of respect," the newly appointed Portuguese boss told reporters on Friday.

"What I can tell you is that Tanguy is with us, he works but we have to speak honestly and to take the best out of Tanguy, (it) has to come from himself.

"I said it before: my job here is not to convince players to play for Tottenham Hotspur, it is to prepare players to play for Tottenham Hotspur."

Ndombele is not the only Tottenham player looking to move away from the club, with striker Harry Kane also heavily linked with a transfer to league champions Manchester City.