The transfer window has now officially opened, and after a season of ups and downs, Tottenham Hotspur look set for a busy few months of incomings and outgoings.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on Champions League qualification, the fact the team secured Europa League football without Harry Kane in the side is a testament to their resilience and a clear sign that Ange Postecoglou can lead this club forward.
Moreover, based on recent reports, Daniel Levy and Co look set to seriously back the Australian in the market as the latest striker touted for a move to N17 has been compared to the club's former captain, Harry Kane - although his arrival would spell the end for Richarlison in the starting lineup.
Tottenham Hotspur transfer news
According to a recent report from Football Insider, Tottenham have made plans to 'spend big' on a 'marquee' signing this summer and could target Newcastle United's star striker, Alexander Isak.
The report claims that the North Londoners could smash their current transfer record, the £63m spent on Tanguy Ndombele, and stump up the cash needed to lure the Swedish poacher down south, which, according to reports over the last few months could be anything from £100m all the way up to £200m.
Football Insider has also claimed that while the Toon are aware of their FFP struggles, they do not want to sell the former Real Sociedad star this summer.
It would be a costly and challenging deal to complete, but with Deloitte ranking Spurs as the wealthiest club in London earlier this year, their desire to sign a marquee player and the comparisons to Kane, Levy, and Co could shock the league and pursue the Magpies star this summer - to the detriment of Richarlison.
How Isak compares to Kane and Richarlison
Now, before we explain all the reasons Isak would be the far superior striker over Richarlison, let's first look at these comparisons to Kane, which mainly stem from FBref.
They look at every player in Europe's top five leagues and create a list of the ten most similar players in their position, and they rank the former Spurs captain as the sixth most similar striker to the Newcastle ace.
Aside from the fact that both players are fantastic at putting the ball in the back of the net, they have come to this conclusion based on how close they are in several key underlying metrics.
For example, both produce a similar expected goal figure and similar shot and goal-creating actions, score around as many goals as each other per shot and shot on target, complete a similar number of progressive passes, and receive about as many progressive passes as well, all per 90.
All of this isn't to say that the 24-year-old would move to N17 and suddenly put in performances at the same level the England captain did last season, but it suggests that he isn't too far off that level and that should excite the Lilywhites faithful, although it certainly won't excite their current striker.
The former Everton ace enjoyed a better season in the capital this year, racking up 12 goals and four assists in 31 appearances, but since he joined the side in 2022, it would be hard to describe his tenure as anything other than disappointing.
In his 66 games overall, he has scored 15 goals and provided eight assists, meaning he's averaged a goal involvement every 2.8 games.
In contrast, the "magnificent" Toon marksman, as talent scout Jacek Kulig has dubbed him, has racked up a seriously impressive 36 goals and five assists in 69 games, which equates to a goal involvement every 1.6 matches on average.
Ultimately, the Brazilian international might be a talented player, but with Spurs looking to progress back up the table under Postecoglou and hopefully challenge for major honours again, he simply isn't good enough. Therefore, Levy and Co should be doing all they can to bring Isak to N17 this summer, even if his fee smashes the club's previous transfer record.