Tottenham Could Still Deal Njie to Marseille

Despite rumors to the contrary, the arrival of Georges-Kévin Nkoudou to Tottenham might actually herald the departure of Clinton Njie.

The Guardian reported on Wednesday that the Cameroonian winger might be on his way to Olympique de Marseille in a separate deal to the one that seems set to bring Nkoudou the opposite way after passing a medical.

Speculation began to swirl around Njie’s future as soon as the first hints at Nkoudou’s transfer dropped this past weekend. How could Mauricio Pochettino and the rest of his team at Tottenham justify bringing in another winger when all of Njie, Heung-min Son and Nacer Chadli still patiently wait in the the wings for a shot in the starting XI?

While the latter two players’ futures are far from certain themselves, Njie was the clear first choice for reshuffling.

His arrival last summer after an impressive season with Lyon in Ligue 1 wasn’t quite as celebrated as the deals done for Toby Alderweireld and Son, and for good reason. While Njie was clearly promising, he was a virtual unknown in a summer transfer window class that featured much more recognizable figures.

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If anything Nkoudou comes into Tottenham with even less excitement than Njie, and the circumstance leave some fans justifiably perplexed. Both those fans and critics alike see a young player with one season of decent numbers, not unlike Njie just one year ago. Yes, he’s being brought into the club for a nominal fee (at least compared to other deals with other clubs this summer) but there’s no escaping the impression that Tottenham are trading one untested — perhaps unready — Francophone winger for another.

Those watching Tottenham closely over roughly the past season and a half will be slightly more optimistic. For one thing, Njie is going to Marseille on loan. Perhaps it turns into a permanent deal, but it seems equally likely that the player revives his form at Lyon in 2014/15 and comes back to Tottenham a motivated, transformed player.

Meanwhile, while the move for Nkoudou is very much a wait-and-see deal, there’s still reason for hope. The powers that be in Tottenham’s recruitment arm like a good under-the-radar buy, and thus far this tactic is proven to bear fruit. Kevin Wimmer and Dele Alli, for instance, were budding starts in their little corners of the footballing world, but Paul Mitchell and company had faith that they could quickly be turned into regular performers for Tottenham. Both players solidified their spot in the club’s first team by the end of the season.

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Njie was a product of that same recruitment system, of course, and his future was in doubt even before Nkoudou arrived on the scene. It’s hard to hold him to the same standards as Pochettino and Mitchell’s other signings though. The rigors of adapting to the Premier League and a deep bench in attacking midfield combined with injury to keep Njie on the periphery for much of the season.

There is still time for Tottenham’s instincts to be proven right about Njie. Marseille are a club that with enthusiastically welcome a player of his caliber, and he will be given every opportunity to succeed. This time next year Tottenham’s fans might regret ever having doubts about the 22-year-old.