Tottenham Hotspur ended the window having yet again been unable to get Roma playmaker, Nicolo Zaniolo through the door, with manager Antonio Conte having seemingly been keen on signing the 23-year-old on loan.

The Serie A side had been demanding a permanent exit for a fee of around £35m for the highly-rated playmaker, with the Lilywhites ultimately opting to secure a move for Sporting Lisbon star, Pedro Porro, in order to solve their wing-back woes.

Despite managing to get the latter man through the door on deadline day, it may well smart for Conte that the club were not also able to strike a deal for Zaniolo, with the 11-cap gem having reportedly been a target for the north London outfit throughout the window.

Those at N17 had seemingly been attracted by the midfielder's versatility to feature in the centre of the park, on the flanks or even in a wing-back role, with the 6 foot 3 ace able to offer greater creativity wherever he is deployed.

The one-time Inter Milan man has five goal involvements in 17 games in all competitions so far this season, after previously racking up eight goals and nine assists across all fronts last term under Jose Mourinho.

To have missed out on such a playmaking talent is no doubt a blow for the top-four hopefuls, with the club having to wait until the summer to potentially revive that pursuit, or look elsewhere for an alternative target.

In the short term, however, with the window now closed Conte could well look to the youth ranks to find another creative gem to take on a Zaniolo-esque role in the side, with 19-year-old starlet, Nile John, one potential candidate to help soften the blow.

Although the former Chelsea boss has typically avoided promoting from within during his time in charge thus far - with football.london journalist Alasdair Gold describing it as a "broken pathway" to the first team earlier this season - he may need to make an exception in the case of the exciting teenager.

Like Zaniolo, young John - who has attracted interest from Brighton and Hove Albion as well as clubs across Europe in recent times - is also able to feature in a variety of positions, although has typically been deployed in an attacking midfield role in recent times.

The 5 foot 9 dynamo has only racked up two senior appearances to date, after failing to feature while on loan at Charlton Athletic last season, although he has sparkled at academy level thus far, bagging nine goals and four assists in 47 games for the club's U21 side.

A player of "real quality", according to the aforementioned Gold, the England U19 international has regularly captained the side at Premier League 2 level, perhaps illustrating that he is more than ready to make the step up between now and the end of the season.

Two years on from making his debut under former boss Mourinho in the Europa League, John is still waiting to really establish himself in the senior ranks, although now could be the time that he is handed the faith of Conte.

With just a matter of months remaining on his contract, it does appear to be a case of now or never for the emerging sensation.