Tottenham Hotspur could be closing in on the signing of Dan James...

What's the word?

According to verified journalist KeryNews, the north London outfit are in 'advanced talks' with Leeds United over a deal for the 23-year-old winger.

"Tottenham are in advanced talks with Leeds United, and they are confident of signing Welsh winger Daniel James," they tweeted.

At this stage, it remains to be seen how much the Wales international would command, considering he cost the Whites around £30m last summer and the fact that he continues to regularly start matches under Jesse Marsch.

Deadline disaster

This would be something of an underwhelming, if not disastrous, signing from sporting director Fabio Paratici as it is hard to envisage exactly what the lightweight winger would offer Spurs.

It's true that the need for attacking reinforcements could increase before Thursday's deadline as Bryan Gil is set to depart on loan and Lucas Moura remains injured but the arrival of James before 11pm would be a tragedy waiting to happen, one that would not go down well with the Lilywhites faithful.

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"He hasn’t exactly done that well at Leeds in a team that is struggling," Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards suggested to the Transfer Gossip Daily Podcast (BBC).

"Whenever I’ve seen him play, I’ve not been overly impressed. To get a move to Tottenham on the basis of what he’s done at Leeds I find strange."

Indeed, the wide man - who has recently been lambasted as being a "headless chicken" - has only scored or assisted nine goals from 39 appearances at Elland Road, at a rate of one contribution every 313 minutes.

That's hardly inspiring form and should be enough for Paratici and co to be put off.

By comparison, Juventus loanee Dejan Kulusevski has already delivered six goals and ten assists from just 26 outings, managing a direct goal contribution every 108 minutes. He only joined the Premier League in January and is clearly a world apart from the underperforming James.

Even Moura has managed a goal or assist every 180 minutes in a Spurs shirt, so James really would not be an upgrade or a sufficient alternative to anyone in Conte's squad right now.

Therefore, if he were to sign, then Spurs would be making a major mistake indeed.

AND in other news, Paratici eyeing last-minute Spurs masterclass as transfer insider drops exciting claim...