There's just over a week to go until Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham Hotspur tenure gets underway away at Sunderland, with the Lilywhites having last won a Premier League game back in December.
Desperate times looked set to call for desperate measures, amid talk of a surprise swoop for free agent, Sean Dyche, although the ENIC regime have put their faith in the maverick De Zerbi instead.
A turbulent tenure at Marseille had come following a largely positive spell for the 46-year-old at Brighton and Hove Albion, having steered the Seagulls to a sixth and 11th place finish in his two seasons at the helm.
A run of five league games without a win at the start of his time at the Amex simply can't be repeated, yet that stint on the south coast showcased why he could be the perfect coach for this youthful crop of Spurs stars.
Why Brighton spell shows De Zerbi can be the perfect Spurs coach
It's not been a positive two years or so at N17, far from it, yet there is something of an exciting, young spine emerging for De Zerbi to work with, in a similar vein to Mauricio Pochettino's previously impressive reign.
At Brighton, the ex-Sassuolo boss nurtured a raft of rising stars and helped propel them to superstardom, with Joao Pedro notably scoring 20 goals in their solitary season working together in 2023/24.
De Zerbi was also the man who oversaw the ascent of fellow striker Evan Ferguson, with the Irishman scoring 15 goals in 60 games in that time, while helping to take a young Moises Caicedo to the next level in 2022/23.
Caicedo had only made eight Premier League appearances before that campaign, after time on loan in Belgium, yet immediately cemented his place as one of the division's primary midfielders under De Zerbi's watch.
The centre-piece of the Seagulls' midfield, the Ecuadorian notably ranked sixth in the league for accurate passes that season, while finishing second for tackles made and for interceptions.
In the eyes of De Zerbi, Caicedo - who made 37 Premier League appearances in total that campaign - was someone who could "play everywhere", flitting in at right-back or even right-sided centre-back on occasion.
Now a £115m star at Chelsea, it was under the Italian that the 25-year-old first truly blossomed, boding well for the impact De Zerbi can make in north London.
Spurs already have De Zerbi's next Caicedo
As noted above, there is a core of youngsters who could fashion a fearsome side at N17 in the years to come, be it Mathys Tel and Xavi Simons in attack, or Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray in midfield.
Amid a season of rife inconsistency at Spurs, it is Gray who has arguably been head and shoulders above the rest, even despite his youth, having even been earmarked as a "future Tottenham captain" by a certain Harry Redknapp.
A bold claim that may be, although the 20-year-old looked particularly commanding in the recent 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, subsequently hailed as a "young Declan Rice" by The Athletic's Duncan Alexander.
Rice, alongside Caicedo, are the two foremost midfielders in the division right now, yet Gray could potentially enjoy a similar rise under De Zerbi's guidance moving forward.
Eyebrows were raised when a figure of around £40m was dished out in 2024 to prise the Englishman from Leeds United, yet that investment now appears something of a coup, having been tipped to be a "future £100m" player by analyst Ben Mattinson.
Like Caicedo, the 20-year-old has that knack for being able to flit between a right-back or central midfield berth, although it is in that latter berth where he seemingly belongs, such is his ability to cover ground in a Rice or Caicedo-style.
That was evident against Atleti prior to the international break, as he pounced on a loose pass to tee up Xavi Simons' second-half stunner.
In the Champions League in general, he averaged 2.1 tackles per game from his seven starts, while boasting a stellar 90% pass accuracy.
A notable, memorable outing in his Leeds days ironically came against Chelsea in the FA Cup in 2024, with journalist Dan Kilpatrick noting at the time that both Caicedo and midfielder partner Enzo Fernandez had been 'outshone' by the lesser-known Gray.
His ceiling is evidently sky high, with Gray the new Caicedo-style figure that De Zerbi needs to build this team around.