SISSOKO: I’LL BACK BRO TO BE A SUCCESS

MOUSSA SISSOKO has backed ‘little brother’ Tanguy Ndombele to come good at Tottenham following a tricky start – just like he did.

Ndombele, 23, has had a rough year in north London following his club-record £54million switch from Lyon last summer.

He struggled for form under Mauricio Pochettino, has been publicly rebuked by Jose Mourinho, and was also in the news for an alleged flouting of lockdown after a meeting with his manager in April.

Ndombele (below) hasn’t featured for Spurs since the restart, and last week Mourinho was forced to play down reports of a bust-up between the pair over the player’s fitness.

So no wonder question marks remain over the midfielder’s future beyond this season.

Sissoko knows what it’s like to struggle at Spurs, though, having failed to settle straight away following his move from Newcastle in 2016.

But since things clicked he hasn’t looked back, and he hopes the same will be true for France’s Ndombele.

Sissoko said: “Tanguy’s first season has not been easy for a lot of reasons.

“I don’t want to speak about those but I spoke with him nearly every day.

“I play with him in the national team so I know him very well – I told him just to stay calm, be patient, keep working every day and his time will come. Maybe because I am like his big brother, I am a good example, because nothing was easy for me at the beginning.

“But I didn’t say much, I was just working very hard at training and things changed.

“We all believe in his quality and now he has come to another country, another culture, another style of football, another league, he doesn’t speak the language, so there are a lot of things.

“He is still very young. He just needs to stay calm, keep working like he does and I am sure he will be a success at the club.

“To have someone who you can speak with every day and who speaks the language, it is very helpful.

“In training with him and even outside training – of course at the moment it is difficult because of social distancing – but I am trying to be with him and do stuff some together.”

Sissoko’s relationship with Mourinho is different altogether and he is massively grateful for the support the Portuguese gave him during his three months out with a knee ligament injury earlier this year.

Midfield ace Sissoko said: “He was close to me, asking me a lot of things each day – if I feel better, if I need something to improve my recovery time.

“That gives you a good push to try to recover as soon as possible, because that means the manager cares about you and you want to be back as soon as possible trying to help the team.”