Tottenham Hotspur are in talks to sign Dan James from Leeds United...

What's the word?

That's according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, who delivered an update on Spurs' pursuit of the Wales international ahead of deadline day.

He tweeted:

"Tottenham are back in negotiations with Leeds for Daniel James. Been told talks are ongoing on loan deal with buy option — but there are also other clubs.

"Up to the player, as he’s happy @ Leeds and has to decide."

Deadline day disasterclass

Things appear to be getting desperate at Hotspur Way as the club tries to bolster Antonio Conte's squad with some late attacking additions.

The likes of Ruslan Malinovskyi, Yannick Carrasco and Hakim Ziyech seem rather unlikely signings at this stage, so James has emerged as a viable target instead.

However, this move is a recipe for disaster as it's hard to imagine the underperforming Leeds star offering the Italian much of note.

Across 40 appearances for the Whites, James has only provided four goals and five assists, averaging one direct goal contribution every 314 minutes, as per Transfermarkt.

He is also currently on a barren run of 18 straight league matches without a goal, stretching back to last season, where he struggled to help the Yorkshire outfit in their time of need as they faced a battle for top-flight survival.

Such form and inconsistency has seen the Wales international slammed as a "headless chicken" by LeedsLive contributor Conor McGilligan, whilst Elland Road legend Ian Harte suggested that the wide man "doesn’t have the knowledge or the know-how."

Meanwhile, the Telegraph's Luke Edwards has been left baffled by Spurs' interest in the £30m Leeds flop, claiming that it would be a "strange" decision from the north Londoners.

[snack-amp-story url= "https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-more-transfer-deadline" title="Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and so much more!"]

If anything, it would be a disaster.

It's true that Conte needs a creative piece as his final signing this summer window but on the above evidence, James just does not provide him with the right solution, not to mention he's a natural winger and the Italian is stacked there.

There's no chance he gets a game ahead of players like Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and Lucas Moura, so there seems little point in this move.

AND in other news, In talks: Spurs could sign Conte his next Perisic in swoop for "complete" £25m wizard...