After an approach from Tottenham Hotspur, one manager has admitted that a £152,000-per-week player is no longer in his plans for the coming season.
Spurs spend £115 million on three senior signings this summer
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has been backed with three key senior signings this summer, costing a total of around £115 million, following a promising debut campaign in charge of the Lilywhites where they sealed Europa League qualification.
Postecoglou hasn't exactly got off to a flyer this season, dropping points away to newly-promoted Leicester City after spurning a host of chances, but the arrivals of striker Dominic Solanke, English sensation Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert from Burnley provide the Australian with much-needed strength in depth in key areas.
A long Premier League campaign awaits for the north Londoners, where they have the added pressure of Europa League games, and Postecoglou will be hoping his side provide more cutting edge in the games to come after their 1-1 draw at the King Power on Monday.
"Yeah, look disappointing outcome," said Postecoglou on Tottenham's draw with Leicester.
"Very dominant first half, really wasteful in front of goal. We started the second half simile. First 15-20 minutes very dominant, wasteful but you know at 1-0 there is always an opportunity for the opposition to come back into the game. That's what happened and we lost our way for 15 or 20 minutes. We lost our composure and the crowd got behind them, but again finished strong. Just really disappointed we lacked a little cutting edge in the front third, made some poor decisions, lacked some composure and didn't get the reward our football deserved."
Luckily for Spurs, there is still time to strengthen, as the summer window doesn't close for another 11 days.
While they've made a trio of new additions, Postecoglou has also watched 12 players in total depart N17, either on loan or permanently. There appears to be squad space available to exploit, and one proven player who could be available for a pretty cheap price is Juventus winger Federico Chiesa.
The £152,000-per-week forward's contract expires next summer, meaning Juve may well for just £13 million as the clock ticks towards deadline day.
Thiago Motta declares Chiesa can leave after Tottenham approach
As per information relayed by football.london, Tottenham have made an enquiry over signing Chiesa this summer, as have Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Man United.
Juve boss Thiago Motta has also indirectly given them the green-light to move, as the Italian admits that his international attacker won't feature in his plans moving forward.
"Our position on Federico Chiesa hasn't changed," said Motta on Chiesa's future at Juve.
"He’s not part of our plans. We've talked. It's a demonstration of the respect I have for everyone. Transparency, clarity, that's the way I communicate with my players."