Clinton Njie is set to join Marseille on a season-long loan as Tottenham prepare to announce the signing of the France under-21 winger Georges-Kévin Nkoudou for £11m.
Cameroon forward Njie, who signed a five-year contract at White Hart Lane last summer after joining from Lyon, was initially reluctant to return to France despite a disappointing first season at Spurs in which he made only eight Premier League appearances.
However, with Nkoudou having successfully completed his medical on Tuesday before his move from Marseille, Njie has now accepted that his opportunities would have been limited next season and is now expected to move to the south of France. It is understood that the deal includes a €7m option to make the transfer permanent should the 22-year-old play a certain number of games for the club next season.
Nkoudou, who moved to the Stade Vélodrome last summer from Nantes for £1m and had been scouted by several English clubs, was convinced to join Tottenham after speaking on the phone to Mauricio Pochettino at the end of last week. He will be the club’s third summer signing, after Victor Wanyama and Vincent Janssen.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday Marseille’s owner, the billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, named the Italian businessman Giovanni Ciccolunghi as chief executive of the club that she put up for sale earlier this year.
Louis-Dreyfus, who took control of the club after the death of her husband Robert in 2009, also appointed long-time family friend Jean-René Angeloglou as chairman of the club’s board.
Louis-Dreyfus said Ciccolunghi was a close associate of her husband Robert prior to his death in 2009 as a board member of the Louis-Dreyfus Commodities trading house.
