Roberto De Zerbi will be in the market for players who can easily slot into his brand of high-risk football at Tottenham Hotspur this summer.
After saving the club from relegation to the Championship on the final day of the season, De Zerbi will want to put his stamp on an ailing squad that he inherited from interim head coach Igor Tudor and previous permanent boss Thomas Frank.
The Italian has admitted that he has "10, 11, 12 players good enough to stay" suggesting that Spurs are in for a massive overhaul this summer.
Owners the Lewis Family have pledged to invest in the squad in order to give De Zerbi the tools he need to succeed in north London and banish the memory of back-to-back 17th-placed finishes.
Two new Tottenham signings are already agreed
Sensible free transfers for Andy Robertson to arrive from Liverpool and Marcos Senesi to come in from Bournemouth should be completed in the coming days, with agreements in place and just confirmation of the deals going through required.
And De Zerbi is not done there when it comes to Spurs' defence.
According to the Telegraph, Tottenham have seen a bid for Jan Paul van Hecke rejected by Brighton as De Zerbi looks to link up with one of his former players in N17.
Van Hecke is currently out in the United States of America with the Netherlands squad for the 2026 World Cup, so any deal will likely have to wait until his participation in the tournament is over, but Spurs have set out their stall early in a bid to sign the 25-year-old.
Reports suggest that Brighton value van Hecke at around the £70million mark, with no indication as to what price Spurs went to the Seagulls with initially.
Van Hecke was the joint-seventh highest scoring defender in the Premier League this season, netting three goals, while only 11 defenders got more than his three assists too.
De Zerbi expects a lot from his defenders on the ball, and only Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Nottingham Forest man Elliot Anderson having more touches of the ball this season than the Brighton man. Van Hecke also made more passes than anyone else in the Premier League bar van Dijk.
Only three players in the league had more successful short passes than van Hecke, while only four defenders were more successful with long passes too.
He was ninth in the league for total number of interceptions made and ninth for duels won, showing just how important he was to Brighton.
If Tottenham could get a deal over the line, they would certainly be getting one of the Premier League's elite defenders, but should they go back to the table with another bid?
Spurs may be better off waiting on van Hecke deal
Van Hecke only has one year left on his contract at the Amex Stadium and Brighton will want to make some money from him, rather than see him leave on a free next summer.
But they may find Spurs - and others - walking away from a deal if they demand £70million for a player with only one year left on his current contract. Even though he is a player De Zerbi loves.
Speaking during his time at Brighton, the Italian said: "Jan Paul’s improvement has been incredible. He is a very smart player, he understands the spaces, and he has the courage to play the ball between the lines under heavy pressure. For my style of football, he became a crucial player because he plays with his head as well as his heart."
This is likely to be a transfer saga that runs on and on. Brighton are notoriously tough negotiators and will demand top dollar to sell the player, who has also been courted by Chelsea and Liverpool so far this summer. They will hope to start a bidding war for the 25-year-old, but while Spurs will want to get a deal over the line, for a player De Zerbi knows and loves, they may be best placed to play the waiting game on this one, to see if they can test Brighton's resolve over that price.
Doing so could count against them if the player has a strong World Cup and Brighton think about increasing the price tag on his shoulders, although the point will still stand that he only has a year remaining on his deal.
If Brighton do not budge, they risk losing the defender for nothing next summer and from Spurs' point of view - with lots of other deals to be done all over the park - spending £70million may not make sense on a player available for free next summer.