Yves Bissouma could be headed for the exit door at Tottenham after three years in North London.
Bissouma has been somewhat of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde figure at Spurs, as his performances have ranged from excellent to lamentable.
The Mali captain showed that he still possesses the ability to step up to the occasion with his stellar showing in the UEFA Europa League final.
However, the Lilywhites have rarely witnessed that calibre of performance from the midfielder in a Spurs shirt, while plenty of games have, in the words of his former manager Ange Postecoglou, passed him by.
With a history of off-the-pitch issues and one year left on his contract, Bissouma is expected to go, with West Ham potentially holding the key to his departure.
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West Ham are frontrunners to sign Douglas Luiz
Tottenham signed Mohammed Kudus from West Ham for just shy of £55million, which drew criticism of the East London side for letting one of their prized assets leave for less than two-thirds the value of his release clause.
Spurs were the beneficiaries of the deal, while the Ghanaian’s departure did free up some funds for Graham Potter to reinvest in the side.
The Hammers are yet to make serious inroads in the transfer market, but have now emerged as frontrunners to sign Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz in a bombshell update via Corriere Dello Sport’s print edition (13 July).
The defensive midfielder has struggled for game time in Italy and has been linked with a swift return to the Premier League.
Tottenham have also explored Luiz as an option, as Thomas Frank looks to consolidate his midfield options, especially from a defensive perspective.
The report adds that Juve could turn to Bissouma to fill the void left by Douglas Luiz if he does head to West Ham.
Frank has tough decisions to make with squad
Frank has had more luck than most in the Tottenham dugout in terms of securing the right players this summer, with at least one or two more expected to arrive.
However, he must now uphold his side of the bargain to decide which members of the squad he does not see as part of his plans and work towards recouping some of the finances from player sales.
There is currently a large surplus of players at Spurs, and Frank will have to make tough decisions to ensure the right balance is struck in N17 to compete on all four fronts next season.