Antonio Conte will deal with Tanguy Ndombele ‘in private’ after he was booed in FA Cup tie

While stopping short of publicly berating Tanguy Ndombele, Antonio Conte admitted that the Frenchman must ‘own his gestures’. 

Ndombele was booed while trudging off during Tottenham’s FA Cup win over Morcambe, taking an age to get to the sidelines with Spurs 1-0 down at the time. 

At Tuesday’s press conference ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg, the manager said: ‘Honestly, I think it’s not right to speak about this type of situation. 

‘I think everyone is the owner of his gestures, you understand? I don’t want to speak about this situation.

‘I repeat, I don’t like to speak about a player in front of the media. This is not fair. 

‘If I have to tell him something or do something to him, I’ll do this in a private way. Not in front of the media. This is not right.’ 

Sportsmail learned that Conte had originally planned for Ndombele to stay at the club until at least the end of the season, believing the midfielder had the talent and profile to play a role in his plans moving forward. 

Ndombele (left) could now be sold by Tottenham in the January transfer window 

But Conte had significant reservations about Ndombele’s work-rate but felt he could motivate the Frenchman to contribute more off the ball.

However, it is understood that Conte is now minded to let Ndombele leave the club during the January transfer window, permanently or on loan

The £55million midfielder earns in the region of £200,000-a-week, an amount that could prove to be an obstacle in finding suitors. 

Another player linked with an exit is Steven Bergwijn after a reported bid of £15m from Ajax was rejected. 

Steven Bergwijn has been linked with a January exit but it seems Conte wants to keep him 

Conte played down the chances of him leaving, saying: ‘Bergwijn, he knows very well what I think about him. I consider him a player that can play all the three roles, as a No 9 and No 10. 

‘In my period at Tottenham, he was injured for a long time. But I showed him that when he is in a good physical condition I gave him a chance. He is a Tottenham player and he is very close to coming back. 

‘After the game with Chelsea he can start a training session. I can count on him. He is a player with different characteristics than Harry, Son and Moura, he is a player we don’t have in our squad.’