Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi and his coaching staff are preparing to call upon a highly-rated teenager for next season, according to reports.
Spurs battle West Ham to avoid shock Premier League relegation
Two games, two points of breathing room, but there is still a very real possibility that Spurs could be playing Championship football next season.
De Zerbi's side sit 17th in the Premier League on 38 points with two fixtures remaining, holding a slender lead over West Ham in 18th.
The maths is simple but unforgiving: Chelsea away on Tuesday night, then Everton at home on the final day.
West Ham face Newcastle on Sunday before hosting Leeds on the last afternoon. If Spurs slip up and the Hammers find a result, the final day could come down to a straight shootout between two clubs desperate to avoid the unthinkable.
De Zerbi has done great work since arriving at the club, with back-to-back wins at Wolves and Aston Villa dragging Spurs out of the bottom three, and an unbeaten run of four games — two wins and two draws — has given the squad some semblance of belief.
But Monday's 1-1 draw with Leeds was another reminder of how fine the margins are.
Mathys Tel produced a brilliant curling finish to put Spurs ahead, only to give away a penalty minutes later with a reckless attempted overhead clearance that caught Ethan Ampadu in the face.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted, and two points were dropped that could prove decisive.
The consequences of going down would be severe. Lost broadcast revenue, an exodus of first-team talent, contractual complications and a rebuilding job that could take years.
It is a scenario nobody at the club wants to contemplate, but one they cannot yet rule out.
Amid all that tension, however, there is one story offering genuine optimism for the future.
Tottenham ready to throw Luka Vuskovic 'in at the deep end' next season
It centres on a 19-year-old centre-back who has been turning heads in Germany all season.
According to Football Insider's Pete O'Rourke, De Zerbi and his coaching staff are ready to throw Luka Vuskovic 'in at the deep end' next season, with the Croatian defender lined up to step directly into the first-team squad regardless of what happens in the transfer window.
Spurs are desperate to avoid selling him under any circumstances this summer, despite growing interest from Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
The only scenario in which a sale would be considered, the report says, is if the club are relegated — and even then, it would be against their wishes.
It is not hard to see why they are so protective.
Vuskovic has been sensational on loan at Hamburg this season, scoring six goals in 27 Bundesliga appearances — a remarkable return for a centre-back still in his teens.
He was named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season, won the league's Rookie of the Month award four times, and recorded the best duel success rate in the entire division at 70 per cent.
Standing at 1.93m, he is a commanding aerial presence, but his composure on the ball and ability to carry it forward have drawn comparisons with some of Europe's finest modern defenders.
Spurs are preparing a lucrative new long-term deal for Vuskovic, designed to fend off the European giants circling for his signature. His current contract runs until 2030, but the club want to make a statement about how central he is to the project going forward.
Both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have been subject to significant interest from elsewhere this season, and if either departs this summer, Vuskovic is already earmarked as the replacement.
De Zerbi now reportedly sees the talent as ready — not as a development project, but as a genuine first-team option from 26/27.