Craig Burley has warned Tottenham Hotspur's Tanguy Ndombele he is heading for big trouble if he refuses to play for Jose Mourinho again, following speculation the Frenchman has fallen out with the Spurs boss.
Tottenham forked out a whopping €62m to sign Ndombele from Lyon last summer, with now former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino having made the midfielder a priority target.
The France international has struggled to live up to expectations though and Mourinho has been critical over what he has brought to the side so far. It has now been claimed the two have had a falling out and Ndombele has insisted he will not play for the Portuguese again.
Former Chelsea midfielder Burley feels Ndombele struggled to fit into the side even during ex-boss Pochettino’s reign and claimed players are never in a position to declare they will never for play for the manager as they have a binding contract with the club.
Burley stressed Ndombele is heading for big trouble if he does refuse to play as other clubs who could be interested in him may choose to steer well clear due to the thought he could cause trouble.
“He didn’t look right when Pochettino signed him, did he?”, Burley told ESPN FC.
“He didn’t look comfortable under Pochettino. I know Tottenham were having struggles at that point, but here’s the deal: Managers tell players they’ll never play for them again, players don’t tell managers because he has got a contract.
“He’s an employee of Tottenham Football Club. And if he is asked to play, he’s going to have to play otherwise he is in big bother.
“Now that is not going to look good in his career. He is a young man.
“That is not going to look good in his career going forward because it will put potential suitors off.
“Clubs don’t want people that will be a huge problem.
"They will put up with some sort of risk in terms of a player’s attitude, but if it becomes obvious it’s a real problem and that’s where this would go if it went all the way down that line.
“That is not going to do him any favours so I really don’t think he should be making statements like that.”
Ndombele has been benched by Mourinho for both Spurs' games since the Premier League restarted, with the French international remaining an unused substitute against both Manchester United and West Ham.
