Tottenham Hotspur will apparently consider recalling Tanguy Ndombele from his loan spell at Galatasaray if they fail in their pursuit of Chelsea's Conor Gallagher.
The Lilywhites have already strengthened at the back and up front in the January transfer window, bringing in Radu Dragusin permanently from Genoa and Timo Werner on loan from RB Leipzig.
A new face in the engine room is now believed to be Ange Postecoglou's priority, and it is claimed that Chelsea's Gallagher - who is in the final 18 months of his Stamford Bridge deal - sits at the top of the Australian's wishlist.
Chelsea are believed to be open to offers for Gallagher this year given his contract situation, but Tottenham could be quoted a fee of £50m to prise him away from their London rivals in the current window.
With the Blues supposedly not budging on their asking price, FootballTransfers claims that Tottenham could instead look closer to home and give Ndombele another shot at redemption in a Spurs jersey.
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The former Lyon man has struggled to settle in North London since joining in 2019 for a club-record £63m, and he is currently in his third loan spell away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
After a brief spell back with Les Gones and a mixed spell with Napoli in 2022-23 - where he became a Serie A winner but failed to make a lasting impact - Ndombele was shipped out to Galatasaray for the 2023-24 campaign with an option to make the deal permanent.
As has been the case at Tottenham and Napoli, though, the 27-year-old has only been a fringe player for the Turkish giants, starting just three games in the Super Lig and one in the Champions League.
From a total of 14 appearances in all competitions, Ndombele has failed to register a single goal or assist, but the report claims that Spurs have received "positive" feedback on the midfielder's displays in Turkey.
As a result, Postecoglou would not be against giving Ndombele yet another chance to prove himself at Tottenham, and discussions have been held over the possibility of recalling the France international.
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Ndombele has made 91 appearances for Tottenham since departing Lyon four-and-a-half years ago, scoring 10 goals and setting up nine more in the process, and his deal with the Lilywhites runs for another 18 months.
During the first couple of months of the Postecoglou reign, Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr joined forces to create a fearsome midfield partnership, only one season after they struggled to play their way into Antonio Conte's good books.
However, both men will be absent for a number of weeks while they represent their countries at the Africa Cup of Nations, leaving Oliver Skipp, Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to hold the fort in midfield.
Hojbjerg is being strongly linked with an exit after falling below Bissouma and Sarr in the pecking order, though, while Bentancur has struggled with knee and ankle injuries over the past year.
Tottenham can rise above Arsenal into the top four of the Premier League table with victory over Manchester United on Sunday, where the Lilywhites could also set a new club goalscoring record.
Ben Knapton
