Sport Football
SPECIAL
REPORT
T
oo fat, too lazy.
The report
cards were in
for Tanguy
Ndombele, and
they did not
make for
comfortable
reading. First,
it was Guingamp who cast him out,
deeming him not worthy of a
professional contract, and now it
was Amiens who were saying a
firm no to this shy young
midfielder with a protruding belly.
Ndombele had joined Amiens in
2014, when he was 17. At that age,
the most talented players are often
beginning to forge their paths into
senior football. Ndombele’s route
pointed in the other direction,
away from the professional game
and back towards home.
They welcomed him with open
arms at Linas-Montlhery, the
amateur club who Ndombele
thought he had left for good four
years earlier. There was some
surprise, though – if not a little
shock – at the state of his body.
“When he came back from Amiens,
he came into the shower room,”
says Mickael Bertansetti, the club
president. “He was a teenager, but
he had the physique of a 30-year-
old.”
Cold reality slapped Ndombele
in the face. Five other professional
clubs had said no, too. “He was
hurt,” says Bertansetti. Something
had to change for Ndombele, unfit
and unwanted, and that journey
home ultimately became a defining
moment for the boy who would goHow teenager ‘with body
of a 30-year-old’ became
Spurs’ record signing
on to become the most expensive
player in Tottenham Hotspur’s
history.
The total fee for Ndombele, paid
to Lyon in five instalments, could
be £63 million. It is an
extraordinary show of faith by a
club who have been so reluctant to
spend money in recent windows,
and few arrivals to the Premier
League have generated as much
excitement in the past couple of
seasons.
The spotlight will shine brightly
on Ndombele on Saturday, when
Tottenham host Aston Villa in their
first game of the campaign.
They will be watching at
Linas-Montlhery, where framed
Ndombele shirts hang on the wallsand a poster bearing the 22-year-
old’s face has been attached to the
club’s small, solitary stand. Those
seats double up as a staircase to the
clubhouse, where visitors will find
pictures of a young Ndombele
celebrating his youth team
triumphs. He was small back then,
playing alongside kids who were
almost two years older, and few
believed he would ever reach these
footballing heights.
On a suffocatingly hot July day,
the Linas-Montlhery pitch remains
in pristine condition. It was here,
in sight of the 13th-century
Montlhery castle that pokes above
the trees, where Ndombele first
began to sweat out the extra
weight after his Amiens rejection.
He trained with the club’s senior
team, which included his older
brother Bosso, and ran laps of the
pitch with Nordine Baaroun, his
former coach.
“He came here to lose weight
and build muscle,” says Bertansetti,
pointing out the corners of the
field where Ndombele would run.
Baaroun found a personal
trainer and sorted Ndombele’s diet.
“It was a slow process,” says
Bertansetti. “It is the nature of his
body. He has to work to have this
body. His brother is the same. If he
does not play sport, he will put on
weight. It’s genetics.”
The way Baaroun tells it,
Ndombele was nearly a stone
overweight. So they worked,
pumping iron, running hard,
eating well. Ndombele sometimes
asked to stay at Baaroun’s house to
maximise their training time,
rather than making the 40-minutetrip home to
Epinay-
sous-
Senart, to
the south of
Paris.
Throughout it all,
and despite the lack of interest
from leading clubs, Ndombele
remained quietly confident. “He
never, never doubted,” Baaroun
tells The Daily Telegraph. “When
he came back from Amiens, I asked
him: ‘Do you think you are going to
give up?’ He said to me: ‘Don’t
worry, Nordine. Don’t worry. I will
go all the way.’ He has done what
he wanted.”
After two months, Baaroun
made contact with Amiens, asking
for a second chance and insisting
that Ndombele was physically
ready to compete. Intrigued by the
potential of a leaner, more focused
player, they said yes. “From there,
it began,” says Baaroun. “He
matured suddenly.”
The return to Amiens was the
first major step towards stardom,
then, but the dream started much
earlier for Ndombele. He grew up
in Epinay-sous-Senart, the middle
of three brothers born to parents of
Congolese descent. Like so many
of the Parisian suburbs, or
banlieues, it is an area without
wealth. The Ndombeles lived in an
eight-storey block known as La
Plaine III, and the little Tanguy
used to dart around the town’s
marketplace when he was not
playing football at the nearby FC
d’Epinay Athletico.
As a child, his talent was
obvious. “When he played here,
the stand was full of people who
had come just to see him,” says
Novic Bayokila, a childhood friend
and former team-mate.
“He had skill that we did not
have. It was not a smooth route to
get to the top but I always knew he
would make it.”
Bayokila says that Ndombele’s
father would serve as the team’s
“12th man”. He would talk to
Ndombele during games, urging
his son to express himself.
Ndombele’s mother, meanwhile,
worked at a nearby church.
Thanks to her, faith has been a
constant in Ndombele’s life. “They
are a very calm, religious family,”
says Bayokila.
Those who knew Ndombele
then, and those who know him
now, speak of an introvert. Despite
his spectacular skill as a boy –
Bayokila says he would regularlyTanguy Ndombele is
now one of Europe’s
most exciting
midfielders, but, as
Sam Dean found
out in Essonne, the
£63m new arrival
had to fight his way
past sneering clubs
who said he was too
fat to play at the
highest level
oo
tit all,
the lack of interest
g clubs, Ndombele
uietly confident. “He
r doubted,” Baaroun
ily Telegraph. “When
ckfrom Amiens, I asked
u think you are going to
e said to me: ‘Don’t
dine. Don’t worry. I will
ay.’ He has done whatmonths, Baaroun
ct with Amiens, asking
chance and insisting
ele was physically
mpete. Intrigued by the
a leaner, more focused
said yes. “From there,
ys Baaroun. “He
ddenly.”
n to Amiens was the
tep towards stardom,
e dream started much
dombele. He grew up
ous-Senart, the middle
thers born to parents of
descent. Like so many
an suburbs, or
is an area without
Ndombeles lived in an
block known as La
nd the little Tanguy
around the town’s
ewhen he was not
ball at the nearby FC
hletico.
, his talent was
When he played here,
as full of people who
st to see him,” says
kila, a childhood friend
team-mate.
kill that we did not
not a smooth route to
pbut I always knew he
e it.”
says that Ndombele’s
d serve as the team’s
He would talk to
during games, urging
xpress himself.
mother, meanwhile,
nearby church.
er, faith has been a
Ndombele’s life. “They
lm, religious family,”
a.
o knew Ndombele
ose who know him
f an introvert. Despite
ar skill as a boy –
he would regularly10 *** Wednesday 7 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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