Tottenham Hotspur have been surprisingly aggressive in the summer transfer market in recent weeks, sealing a big-money deal for West Ham star Mohammed Kudus, who has all the talent necessary to become one of the most devastating forward in the Premier League.
As Tottenham continue their window, they are grappling with Nottingham Forest over a similar 60 million pound bid for Morgan Gibbs-White, Nottingham Forest's most valuable player and one of the most unique attacking midfield weapons in European football for new manager Thomas Frank to work with.
But Tottenham's slow start to the summer transfer window and narrow focus on only established Premier League names have caused them to miss out on a number of underrated, high-quality transfer targets.
The latest is PSV winger Johan Bakayoko, whom Fabrizio Romano has confirmed is joining RB Leipzig. A talented gem from Belgium, Bakayoko officially inked his contract with the Bundesliga giants, joining the Red Bull-owned club for a miniscule 22 million euros.
Better than Dejan Kulusevski?
Linked to clubs as big as Liverpool and Manchester City last year, Tottenham weren't astute enough to scout the productive 22-year-old left-footed right winger, who could have been an inexpensive and high-upside competitor for Dejan Kulusevski and a backup for Kudus.
Tottenham fans won't cry too much about missing out on Bakayoko, though, because Kudus is the bigger name and has been impressive in the Premier League when West Ham haven't been an abject failure. And before that, he had a strong resume in the Dutch Eredivisie.
But so did Bakayoko, who could have been a decent signing at 22 million euros. He scored 9 goals last season and was even better the year before with 12 goals and 9 assists, and he'll join a seventh-placed Leipzig team that will need the boost he gives them.
Leipzig signing Bakayoko could help Tottenham in a way, though. Xavi Simons is a midfielder and not a winger, but each investment Leipzig makes increases the chance of the club being open to sell Simons to raise funds, as it's only a matter of time before the Dutch international makes a big move. And Tottenham could be that destination.
With three left-footed right wingers in the squad among Kudus, Brennan Johnson, and Kulusevski, Bakayoko probably never stood a chance at joining Tottenham, but it will be curious to track how Bakayoko does at Leipzig compared to Kudus, who cost three times as much, at Tottenham - or even comparing Kulu and Johnson to Bakayoko.