Tottenham Hotspur supporters watched in horror as a seemingly settled deal for Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze was turned on its head, as Eze instead joined bitter rivals Arsenal to combine with Martin Odegaard.
Whereas Arsenal now have two, potentially three pending Ethan Nwaneri's involvement, top-class No. 10's, Tottenham don't even have one. Their best playmaker, James Maddison, is out for the foreseeable future with a torn ACL.
So now Tottenham are left scrambling to sign a No. 10 after now striking out on at least five different legitimate transfer targets this summer in Rayan Cherki, James McAtee, Morgan Gibbs-White, Xavi Simons, and now Eze.
Next up on the list is anyone's guess, but one player Tottenham have been looking at for a while as an option in the attacking midfield or on the wing is young Monaco standout Maghnes Akliouche, who has been watched around the Premier League this summer.
Tottenham should have went harder for Eberechi Eze
According to a report from Gary Jacob of The Times, Akliouche would not come at any sort of a discount for Tottenham, though, Jacob writes that the price Monaco have set for Akliouche is a cool 60 million pounds, based on what they asked from Inter Milan when the Nerazzurri enquired about the 23-year-old breakout star.
Akliouche bagged 5 goals with 10 assists, 1.6 dribbles completed per game, and even 1.6 tackles per match for the Monegasque in Ligue 1 last season. The versatile French attacker is one of the best young forwards in European football right now, and with his playmaking ability and willingness to defend, he should be even better as a 10 than a right winger.
The thing is, 60 million pounds is a lot of money, and even though Akliouche is a few years younger than Eberechi Eze, there's no way you can look at his numbers and say he is better. Eze is a superior goal-scorer, creator, and dribbler, and unlike Akliouche, he is proven in the Premier League, which seems to be important to Thomas Frank and Tottenham based on their other transfer targets.
Akliouche is a very good footballer with additional upside, and he should be one of the top alternatives to Eze for Tottenham. At this point, beggars can't be choosers. But the fact that Tottenham could end up signing Akliouche for around the same price as what they could have signed Eze for, if they were more proactive, only makes missing out on Eze sting that much more for the Tottenham faithful.