It's been a good summer for Tottenham Hotspur so far this year.
Ange Postecoglou's side have won the majority of their preseason friendlies, put up a good fight in the losses against Bayern Munich and been proactive in the transfer market.
The signings of Archie Gray and Yang Min-Hyeok are exciting windows into the future of the team, while the £65m capture of Dominic Solanke is a signal of intent for the here and now.
However, some players, including Dejan Kulusevski, underperformed last season and could potentially be upgraded.
Interestingly, the club have already been linked with someone who could be the ideal replacement for the Swede and a great teammate for Solanke.
How Solanke could transform Spurs
So then, the biggest transfer in the last week or so and easily the biggest deal for Tottenham overall this summer is undoubtedly Solanke.
The Englishman's £65m move from Bournemouth indicates that the North Londoners are intent on taking another step forward this season and maximising Postecoglou's ultra-aggressive style.
The club signed the former Liverpool ace primarily because of his goalscoring ability, and to say he's in a league of his own among his new teammates in this regard would be an understatement.
For example, last season, he scored 21 goals in 42 appearances while also chipping in with four assists for good measure.
The only player to score more than 15 goals in the Spurs squad was Son Heung-min, while the club's only recognised striker, Richarrlison, found the back of the net just 12 times.
For his efforts, Kulusevski scored eight goals last season, but he only recorded three assists in 39 appearances, equating to a goal involvement every 3.55 games. This suggests that there is room to upgrade on the former Juventus ace, and a player the club were linked with earlier this year could be the ideal replacement.
How Kubo compares to Kulusevski
Yes, the winger in question is Japanese international and former Real Madrid player Takefusa Kubo.
The 23-year-old was touted for a move to N17 in late June when it was reported that the North Londoners were 'very interested' in signing him ahead of fellow Premier League sides Liverpool and Manchester United.
It was reported that to get the deal over the line, Daniel Levy and Co would have to sanction a £51m bid to activate his release clause, and while they didn't, they should have.
The 35-capped international primarily plays off the right and would be a great option to either challenge or outright replace Kulusevski this season, and while his raw output of seven goals and five assists in 41 matches results in a marginally better average of one goal involvement every 3.41 games, his underlying numbers are much better.
For example, in practically every relevant metric, the "insane" Sociedad star, as dubbed by data analyst Ben Mattinson, comes out way ahead, including but not limited to non-penalty expected goals plus assists, actual non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive carries, shots and shots on target, key passes, shot and goal-creating actions, successful take-ons and even aerial duels won, all per 90.
Shot-creating actions are pieces of play that lead to a shot. These include moments such as a pass, take-on or foul being drawn.
In his defence, the Stockholm-born ace does better in some metrics, such as progressive passes and passing accuracy, but that is about it.
Ultimately, if Postecoglou and Co want to give Solanke the best chance of success in North London, then bringing in a new right-winger who plays more key passes and produces more shot and goal-creating actions would be a great start, and in Kubo, they'd have exactly that.
Therefore, even though it would impact Kulusevski's game time, Levy should return to the Basque side and stump up the cash required to activate the Japanese star's release clause this summer.