Tanguy Ndombele: The Lyon revelation in the France squad
- Published
Tanguy Ndombele (left) helped Lyon to victory over Manchester City in the Champions League last month
Every week the BBC Football Daily Euro Leagues podcast panel will select a promising 'wunderkind' to focus on. This week our subject is...
Tanguy Ndombele
Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele was called up to the France squad for the first time on Thursday, as Didier Deschamps recruited him for a friendly against Iceland and Nations League match with Germany.
The 21-year-old, who was playing in the second division until the summer of 2017, was named in the world champions' squad after an injury to Corentin Tolisso of Bayern Munich - the man he replaced at Lyon.
Ndombele helped Amiens win promotion from Ligue 2 in a dramatic 2016-17 season - with two points separating the top five teams.
After two matches in Ligue 1, he joined Lyon on deadline day in 2017 in a loan move with an option to make it permanent for 10m euros (£8.75m), a move they unsurprisingly took up.
A box-to-box midfielder, who has been linked with Manchester City and Tottenham, he has impressive attacking and defensive stats.
Last season he played 32 Ligue 1 games for Lyon and set up 44 chances. Only Memphis Depay and Nabil Fekir in the Lyon team created more. His 108 dribbles were only behind that pair and Houssem Aouar. And he also made 62 tackles - only behind Lucas Tousart and Aouar.
He set up eight goals in all competitions last term and scored once, in the Europa League against Villarreal.
And he has started this season even brighter, helping Lyon beat Manchester City 2-1 in their opening Champions League group game - his debut in the tournament.
He has assisted four goals in eight Ligue 1 games this campaign - level with Dimitri Payet at the top of the league rankings. His 457 passes are only beaten in the Lyon team by Marcelo's 462.
Euro Leagues podcast analysis - 'he could become one of the best midfielders in the world'
Football journalist Julien Laurens: "He's been a revelation since joining Lyon. A summer ago, he got Amiens promoted to the first division. He is a very powerful box-to-box midfielder, very strong - so good on the ball.
"Everything he does is forward - there aren't many sideways passes. The first thing on his mind is going forward, with a pass that can break a line or beat two or three players with a dribble because he's so good carrying the ball.
"There's a lot of room for improvement because he's only 21 and he has such a big potential. In the right environment he could become one of the best midfielders in the world.
"There was a lot of interest from Mauricio Pochettino and Spurs in the summer. Pep Guardiola is supposedly a big admirer and would have seen him up closely when Lyon beat Man City two weeks ago in the Champions League. He's got a huge future."