sport news Tanguy Ndombele profile: Lyon midfielder drawing interest from Tottenham, PSG ...

Tottenham are set to compete with Juventus for Lyon's highly-rated midfielder Tanguy Ndombele this summer.

Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United are among the other clubs linked with the 22-year-old France international, who is valued at £87million.

We take a closer look at one of the stand-out performers in Ligue 1 this season who is set to spark a bidding war between some of Europe's elite clubs.

Lyon and France midfielder Tanguy Ndombele is attracting plenty of interest this summer

Lyon and France midfielder Tanguy Ndombele is attracting plenty of interest this summer

What's his background?

It's fair to say that Ndombele's route to prominence wasn't exactly a smooth one.

Born in the south Parisian suburb of Longjumeau to parents of DR Congolese descent, he played for various local teams before moving to Brittany aged 14 to join the academy at Guingamp.

Ndombele spent three seasons with them but failed to impress enough to win a professional contract.

The teenager dropped down a couple of levels to Amiens before trialling at numerous clubs including Auxerre, Caen and Angers, but all in vain.

The reason was always the same - Ndombele was apparently 'overweight' and not the correct build to play regular professional football.

In the end, he had to work his way up from the Amiens reserve team in the Championnat National 3, the fifth level of French football.

Ndombele, 22, has impressed this season and Tottenham, PSG and Juventus are interested

Ndombele, 22, has impressed this season and Tottenham, PSG and Juventus are interested

But by the 2016-17 campaign, he had cracked the first team there, playing 31 times that year and proving himself regularly enough to earn a loan to Lyon for the following season.

Since then, Ndombele's progress has been spectacular. From what was reportedly a €2m loan with an option to sign him permanently for just €8m, Ndombele ended up playing 50 matches last season.

He helped the club to a third-place finish in Ligue 1, ensuring Champions League qualification.

It was a no-brainer for Lyon to pay the modest fee and sign him, with Ndombele making further strides this season.

He impressed against Manchester City in the Champions League group stage, as well as scoring twice against Hoffenheim, before Lyon bowed out to Barcelona in the last-16.

And his seven assists in 33 league appearances helped Lyon to another third-place finish behind runaway champions PSG and Lille.

Ndombele has drawn comparisons with Michael Essien and N'Golo Kante for his all-action style

Ndombele has drawn comparisons with Michael Essien and N'Golo Kante for his all-action style

What's his playing style?

Ndombele is best described as a powerful box-to-box midfielder who isn't afraid to push forward and possesses a creative switch in the final third.

While Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has described Ndombele as the 'new Michael Essien', a more contemporary comparison is with his France colleague N'Golo Kante.

With their energy, discipline, dribbling and ability to pick out a pass, there are certainly similarities with Kante, not to mention a selflessness at doing some of the dirty jobs that go under the radar.

The once 'overweight' Ndombele has now matured into a 22-year-old with impressive upper body strength, yet he also has the balance and technique necessary to dribble neatly.

He often breezes past a couple of opposition players before picking

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