Speaking to GiveMeSport, reporter Paul Brown of The Daily Star has made a claim involving Tottenham Hotspur star Tanguy Ndombele.

The Lowdown: Ndombele drama...

Since he signed on a club record deal from Lyon in 2019, it's safe to say Ndombele's time at Spurs has been anything but harmonious.

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After a brief spell of fine form for Spurs under Jose Mourinho last year, earning him an 'unplayable' tag at one point, The Frenchman told Tottenham he would like to leave over the summer.

The exit failed to materialise, however, and he now finds himself trying to recapture his best whilst fighting his way back under Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Latest: Brown 'surprised' by Ndombele return...

Speaking to GMS, Brown has backed claims that Spurs were trying to 'get rid' for a while and believes he 'wasn't training hard enough'.

As a result, he is 'surprised' that the 24-year-old is now back in contention.

"I'm surprised that Ndombele's back in the team," Brown explained.

"It looked like in pre-season the club were trying to get rid of him for a while. He said he wasn't happy, he wasn't training hard enough, Nuno was having issues with him.

"I think it would have suited all parties for him to leave, but they didn't get the deal they wanted. So, he's here and he will have to play better than that or he won't get back in the team."

The Verdict: Last chance saloon?

It's safe to say that this is now last chance saloon for Ndombele and it isn't infeasible to think that Spurs could try to offload him again in January.

Amid reports of unrest behind the scenes under Nuno Espirito Santo, it's clear that there are a few disruptive personalities in the Tottenham dressing room given Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho suffered from similar problems at Spurs (Alasdair Gold).

Ndombele could well be one of them and it's now debatable whether Tottenham should just cut their losses.

In other news: 'Wow', 'Unbelievable'...Sky pundit moots Spurs stadium naming rights boost after what's happened, find out more here.