To suggest Tottenham’s transfer window has been a rather torrid affair would be putting things lightly.
Antonio Conte’s first market with the Lilywhites has been somewhat of a disaster with the north London club.
What’s the word?
Spurs have now missed out on Adama Traore, Luis Diaz and are also thought to now be unlikely to sign Franck Kessie.
The first two players in question have decided to sign for Barcelona and Liverpool instead but there is good news on the transfer front at last.
It might not captivate or enthral fans too much, but it looks like Tottenham are close to sealing a signing.
According to The Athletic, they have had a bid accepted to sign Ollie Tanner from non-league side, Lewes.
This comes after the club began negotiations to sign Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus.
Les Ferdinand 2.0
After seeing moves for the likes of Traore and Diaz fall through, the idea of signing a player who lacks the quality to come in and be an instant first-team threat for Spurs is not likely to go down well.
However, that’s not to say that Tanner, who is just 19 years of age, won’t be a successful acquisition.
There have been plenty of fairytale success stories of non-league conversion with players earning a move to a higher level and then thriving. A famous example is Jamie Vardy, somebody who is now a top-flight golden boot winner and the holder of a Premier League title.
Spurs supporters also revere a player who first starred in non-league football before going on to become a legend of English football; Les Ferdinand.
He played for Southall and Hayes before QPR gave him his big break in the Football League. What followed were moves to Newcastle and Tottenham, who helped him become one of the all-time leading scorers in Premier League history, bagging 149 in 351 outings.
Now, we’re not saying that Tanner will become as big a legend as Ferdinand but it shows that it’s wrong to discount a player of his calibre before he’s officially signed.
After all, this is a young individual that’s previously been compared to Gareth Bale. With that in mind, he’s worth seeing out on the pitch before making a thorough assessment of his qualities.