There is no question that if it were up to Thomas Frank and Tottenham Hotspur right now, they'd have Bryan Mbeumo signed, sealed, and delivered to the Europa League champions instead of still mulling over an offer from Manchester United, who he apparently chose over Spurs before the North Londoners flipped the script by hiring his former Brentford manager.
Mbeumo was arguably the biggest breakout star of the entire 2024/25 Premier League season, scoring 20 goals and 7 assists for the Bees to officially make Saudi Pro League striker Ivan Toney a thing of the past for Brentford.
Now, Tottenham are hoping he can be the goal-scoring superstar on the wing to potentially replace left-sided icon Son Heung-min, and Spurs have already sealed the deal for a promising young winger by agreeing to sign Mathys Tel permanently from Bayern Munich.
Tottenham don't have all their eggs in Mbeumo's basket in case he betrays them for Manchester United - or a club outside the Premier League entirely. Bournemouth's breakout right winger Antoine Semenyo is very much on Tottenham's list of alternatives, and he's widely seen as the betting favorite to be their next top target if Mbeumo were to choose against them.
A better option than Antoine Semenyo for the cost
But should he be? Because for a mere fraction of the price of Semenyo - about 70 million pounds - Tottenham could sign PSV's Johan Bakayoko. The underrated Belgian prospect has apparently fallen in PSV's asking price of the player, as Eindhovens Dagblad now reports that Bakayoko could be purchased for just 17 million pounds.
Maybe that's too good to be true, but even if Bakayoko goes for only a bit more than that, it's still a massive bargain. Even though he's not proven in the Premier League like Semenyo, you could argue that "proven" is still a bit of a stretch for Semenyo and that Bakayoko has more technical quality and natural ability.
Bakayoko was on Manchester City's radar as a top out-and-out winger signing, but with Jeremy Doku and Savinho feasting and now Rayan Cherki on his way on the right wing, the left-footed Bakayoko no longer seems to be a favored target for the perennial Premier League title favorites.
Tottenham would be wise to keep a close eye on Bakayoko and consider him a better alternative to Mbeumo than Semenyo when considering his cost and upside. Bakayoko is just 22 years old, and while he was less important for PSV this season, that had more to do with problems with the club itself.