Tottenham Hotspur have pulled out of the race for in-demand Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo. Call it pragmatic, but ENIC Group have recognised the waning odds of pulling off a deal as the Premier League's elite all ramp up the gas.
Semenyo, 25, has been one of the standout forwards in English football this season, scoring eight goals and providing three assists in the top flight. Tottenham have been keen for a while, but now they can reorient their attention to new targets, with Thomas Frank's side in need of attacking investment this winter.
The current position of the board is that Frank needs time to put Tottenham's troubles to rights. The Londoners are 14th in the Premier League at Christmas, their home form is wretched, and creative levels are at a low ebb.
With Semenyo off the cards - having reportedly rejected the Lilywhites - sporting director Johan Lange is indeed turning to alternatives.
Spurs searching for a Semenyo alternative
Brennan Johnson has been well out of form this season, and he has been slated for a winter transfer to Crystal Palace.
It is unlikely that the Welshman's prospective move would be scuppered by failure in the bid for Semenyo, so Frank will surely look to sign an alternative, having actually already earmarked a few.
Real Madrid superstar Rodrygo is a player of interest, but a winter deal for the Brazilian seems unfeasible. Manchester City talent Savinho is also on the list, but the Brazilian's future hinges on a number of moving parts.
With this in mind, Tottenham are intensifying their efforts for RB Leipzig's rising star Yan Diomande, according to TEAMtalk, with the report noting he is one of the players they have 'looked' at.
Diomande, 19, has been one of the most exciting breakthrough stars in Germany this year, fast and furious and clinical in front of goal. He is valued at £80m already, and numerous elite outfits are interested too.
Why Spurs should sign Yan Diomande
Diomande is in the fledgling phase of his senior career, but sometimes you can just tell. Having left Leganes to sign for Leipzig during the summer, the Ivory Coast prospect has scored seven goals and supplied four assists across 16 matches in all competitions.
A versatile and dynamic winger, Diomande has been hailed as a "special, special footballer" by journalist and youth scout Antonio Mango, becoming an instrumental part of Leipzig's attack after a breakout year in Spain that saw him feature only ten times in La Liga, scoring twice.
Now, he sits at some high-ranking tables, with data-driven platform FBref revealing that across Europe's top five leagues, he ranks among the top 2% of positional peers for non-penalty goals, the top 6% for shot-creating actions, the top 3% for progressive carries, the top 1% for successful take-ons and the top 12% for tackles per 90.
A successful take-on is recorded when a player beats their opponent by directly carrying the ball past them while retaining possession.
Diomande would not only be an interesting Semenyo alternative but a player whose quality could see him take the throne as Spurs' best wide forward from the get-go, maybe even trumping Mohamed Kudus in that regard.
Kudus joined Tottenham from West Ham this summer for £55m, two years' Premier League under his belt. Though Tottenham's creative sharpness has lacked something this year, the Ghanaian has been a bright spark, endowed with such pace and directness down the right flank.
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes is the only man to have racked up more assists so far this season, but Kudus has not been a relentless creator, and that's something he needs to work on.
He's a talented player, but Diomande's ceiling reaches a higher level, with coach Harry Brook of the opinion that he will "be worth £100m plus" down the line. His rip-roaring start to life in the Bundesliga certainly leans toward that outcome.
It says something of Diomande's potential that he is already being billed as a talent who could outstrip an established Premier League star such as Kudus.
The teenage talent has much still to learn, but even so, he would shine in Frank's Tottenham team, perhaps living up to the billing and becoming the talisman that the north Londoners have been craving since Heung-min Son left and Harry Kane before him.