Tottenham Hotspur have not been up to scratch this season, and unlike last year, under the chaotic leadership of Ange Postecoglou, the chances of salvaging something with silverware are negligible.
For that to happen, Spurs would need to win the Champions League, and though a confident group stage campaign resulted in a fourth-place finish and thus the avoidance of an extra knockout round, Thomas Frank's squad have left too much to be desired to be considered genuine contenders at this stage.
In attack, for example, the Londoners have flattered to deceive, and while creativity remains a critical problem point, ENIC Group are interested in signing a striker to ease the woes.
Spurs line up late bid for striker
Dominic Solanke's return to action has felt like a warm hug for a Lilywhites fanbase who have watched Frank's frontline struggle throughout the autumn and then the winter.
Holding 14th-place in the Premier League, it can't be understated that hopes of qualifying for Europe next year are somewhat slim, and without fresh firepower, things will not change for the better.
It's unlikely that Spurs will chase a playmaker after signing Xavi Simons last summer. James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski sit injured on the sidelines.
But according to reports in Italy, Spurs are ready to sign Crystal Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta, having opened talks with their Premier League rivals ahead of the looming transfer deadline.
Conditional on Randal Kolo Muani's departure from north London, that is, but the on-loan Frenchman is angling for an N17 exit, so things may well fall into place.
"Nottingham Forest remain in talks" for the £40m-rated striker, says transfer insider Ben Jacobs. However, if those reports in Italy are to be believed, Tottenham are indeed lurking in the background, and with Jorgen Strand Larsen on the cusp of moving from Molineux to Selhurst Park, everything is in place for the Lilywhites to pounce.
Why Spurs should sign Mateta
Mateta, 28, is one of the Premier League's best strikers. His is a rise built by hard, gruelling graft, having improved by the increment in English football.
Tottenham need such a player, a striker who knows how to succeed in the Premier League and rarely misses chunks of the seaosn due to injury.
He once struggled for consistency, but a reliable cutting edge under Oliver Glasner's wing has earned Mateta a call-up to the French national team, with analyst Ben Mattinson also declaring him to be "one of the best strikers" in England.
It's true that the hulking attacker has been off the boil in recent months for the Eagles, but a breakdown of optimism and fluency has proved a contributing factor, and Mateta is angling for a move away from Croydon.
He is a goalscorer, plain and simple. Mateta uses his strength and positioning to weave into spaces and wreak havoc in the final third. This focal presence could be something that Spurs have not seen with such efficiency since the days of Harry Kane.
Described as a "goal machine" by reporter Will Pickworth, Mateta would add goals to Frank's system, and though he would be competing with the up-and-down Dominic Solanke, there's a case to be made that he would outperform the England star and actually prove to be the north Londoners' finest centre-forward since Kane.
Kane, of course, is one of the greatest players in Premier League history. So many goals and all-consuming performances from the Spurs spearhead led to a transfer to Bayern Munich to chase the trophies he deserved, but there's no question that he cemented an indelible legacy for the Lilywhites, even without crowning his journey with silverware.
Mateta would hardly perform with the same creativity and breadth of technicality that became a staple of Kane's legendary journey, but Tottenham simply need someone to lead the line with confidence and prolificness, and in Mateta, Frank might just land the perfect man for the job.