Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a surprise move for Daniel James this week...

What's the word?

According to The Sun journalist Alan Nixon, Spurs have targeted the Leeds United and Wales winger heading into the final week of the summer transfer window.

"Spurs shock interest in Dan James," he tweeted.

At this early stage, it remains to be seen exactly how much the 24-year-old would command or if the Yorkshire side would even be open to a sale, having paid around £25m for him only last August.

Alasdair Gold of football.london has also revealed that Lilywhites sporting director Fabio Paratici is a fan of the Leeds star and that he would not be considered as a homegrown player.

Paratici's first disaster

You have to wonder what the Italian supremo has been watching since his arrival in England because James hasn't been good enough since his step-up to Premier League football and subsequently, the former Manchester United flop would be something of a disaster for Spurs too.

Indeed, the Welsh international has provided only ten goals and 12 assists across 84 top-flight appearances, which works out to be one contribution every 265 minutes, as per Transfermarkt.

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By comparison, Dejan Kulusveski - who is likely to cost Spurs just £4.2m more than what James cost Leeds - has averaged a goal or assist every 110 minutes despite only playing 23 games in England since his arrival in January.

The diminutive 5 foot 7 winger has appeared lightweight coming up against many a Premier League defence, having won just 39% of his duels per game last season, whilst former striker Darren Bent once dubbed him "headless" in his decision-making.

Whilst his international teammate and current Spurs star Ben Davies might be a fan of his, once dubbing him a "top player" and a "really grounded kid," it seems unlikely that this move would be beneficial to manager Antonio Conte.

James has really struggled in the big time and his arrival would not help their homegrown quota whatsoever, so there seems little point in taking the risk on the £50k-per-week dud.

When compared to other wingers in Europe, the Leeds man ranks outside the top 45% of players for every key attacking metric, ranging from passes attempted, where he's in the lowest 1%, to total shots and successful dribbles, via FBref.

Those disastrous returns should really put Paratici off a move, otherwise, he would be making one of his first big mistakes in north London.

Tottenham could do far better than James and as such, the Italian must not take their shock interest any further.

AND in other news, Paratici could end Spurs' summer with a bang in £50m swoop for "extraordinary talent"...