José Mourinho and Tanguy Ndombele will reunite tonight in Roma–Napoli for the first time since they left Tottenham.
The France international will replace André-Zambo Anguissa in the middle of the park for the Partenopei, hoping to put in another convincing performance at the Stadio Olimpico.
The Tottenham loanee has looked reborn since his temporary move to the Stadio Maradona and has scored one goal in 11 appearances across all competitions.
The 25-year-old failed to justify his €60m price tag in North London, where he arrived in the summer of 2019 under Mauricio Pochettino. However, the Argentinean coach was sacked in November with Mourinho coming in to replace him.
They were not exactly on good terms during the first few months of the Special One’s tenure.
Mourinho and Ndombele argued on the training ground after the restart of the season in 2020, but the coach gave him a chance to prove him wrong and the midfielder’s performances slowly improved under the Portuguese tactician.
Ndombele went on to play 57 games with Mourinho, scoring six goals, more than under any other coach in his career.
“I have enough experience to say and to feel that when a player is not playing very well, it’s his responsibility, and when a player turns things around and brings his performance level to a very high level, it’s also his responsibility,” Mourinho said in January 2021 after Ndombele’s goal in a 3-1 win over Sheffield United.
“For me, the hardest thing was getting used to my new life here – new language, new teammates, new league,” said the midfielder in an interview with The Guardian in February 2021.
“The change of manager [from Pochettino to Mourinho] wasn’t the most challenging thing. The arrival of a new manager is hard at first, but over time we’ve gotten to know each other and now we have a good relationship.”
During the same interview, he also discussed the argument with his ex-coach: “If you know Mourinho then you understand how he behaves. I wouldn’t call it confrontation. He’s just got a certain way of sending his messages and it all depends on how you receive those messages.”
Ndombele was sent out on loan to his former club Lyon in the second part of 2021-22 and moved to Napoli on loan with an option to buy for €30m last summer.