Spurs legend King backs new signing Ndombele to be a North London hit

Tottenham Hotspur legend Ledley King is confident Mauricio Pochettino can bring the best out of Tanguy Ndombele once their star signing has adjusted to Premier League life.

The 22-year-old signed a deal until 2025 from Lyon for a club record fee of 60million euros (£53.8m), which could rise to 70million euros (£62.8m) with incentives.

Spurs’ previous transfer record was the £42million paid to sign defender Davinson Sanchez from Ajax in August 2017 but that has been eclipsed by the arrival of the France international.

And having already been impressed by what he’s seen from Ndombele in pre-season, former Spurs central defender King is already expecting big things from the youngster.

“I’m very excited about the signing of Ndombele,” he said. “I got my chance to see him up close for the first time in pre-season in Germany and I was impressed by him.

“He’s only 22 years old and Pochettino has a great track record of developing young players and improving them so I think he is only going to get better.

“He is going to need some time to adjust because he is coming from the French league which is very different to the Premier League.

“It will time for him to adjust to Pochettino’s intensity and the demands he asks for from all of his players but without a doubt he is a great talent.”

Ndombele was Spurs’ second purchase of the transfer window following the £8.5million acquisition of Leeds United 18-year-old Jack Clarke, who has been loaned back to the Championship club.

Although there has been speculation around other potential Tottenham signings, King admits he never paid much attention to the transfer window goings-on until he saw a player in the flesh.

“I didn’t really pay much attention to the transfer window, you pick up the papers and you read thing but until you see the players come through the door we all know about speculation,” he said.

“There was times where players did come in and you didn’t really know them, but I remember being injured and watching them through the window to see how good they were.

“I wanted to see if they were a threat to my position but it’s great for competition. I still didn’t pay much attention though until they actually came through the door.”

King also highlighted Edgar Davids and Rafael van der Vaart as the two most exciting players who arrived during his time at the club - insisting that late business is always on the cards for Spurs.

“Edgar Davids was one of the most exciting players who arrived while I was a player,” he continued. “I remember seeing him at the training ground for the first time.

“To see him at the training ground was a great feeling and with his dreadlocks and his personality he stood out and the first thing he asked was, ‘Can we win things?’

“That was great for us as a young team and he’d obviously won a lot of things so for him to come into the training ground and the club was great.

“Another one was Rafael van der Vaart, who was more of a last minute signing. With us we’re always working behind the scenes and you never know until the window closes.”

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