It's been a pretty good summer for Tottenham Hotspur so far this year, and while the draw away to Leicester City on Monday night was far from ideal, the club looks set for a big season.
Ange Postecoglou will be looking to go one better than last year by leading the team up the Premier League table and into the Champions League places, and after the team's summer of spending, that's starting to look like a far more realistic objective than it did in May.
Daniel Levy and Co have been busy in the last few months, bringing some exciting youngsters to beef up the squad, like Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert, while significantly improving the starting lineup with the £65m capture of Dominic Solanke.
However, with a week to go until the window slams shut, the Lilywhites look primed to do more business, and the latest player touted for a move to N17 would mirror their transfer of Gray and be the perfect long-term Bissouma replacement.
Tottenham Hotspur transfer news
According to a recent report from journalist Graeme Bailey, Tottenham are interested in Middlesbrough star Hayden Hackney.
The report reveals that, alongside the Lilywhites, West Ham United, Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers, all sent scouts to watch the young midfielder in his first two Championship games of the season.
That said, it's not just the competition that could make this a complicated deal to get over the line for the North Londoners, as the report claims Boro manager Michael Carrick is determined not to lose the young star this season, whom Transfermarkt values at just €7m - £6m.
However, if Spurs really pushed for this deal, it seems unlikely that the Championship side would be able to stop them, and while he's unproven at the top level, similar to Gray prior to Monday, he could be the ideal replacement for Bissouma.
How Hayden compares to Bissouma
So, before we look at the comparison between the Boro gem and Spurs' Malian midfielder, how does this move reflect the one for Gray earlier this summer?
Well, put simply, it would be the North Londoners once again dipping into the Championship to sign an exciting up-and-coming English youngster from a team who couldn't win promotion last season.
Moreover, while the former Leeds ace is more versatile than Hackney, he has also played a significant amount of minutes in central and defensive midfield in the past, which means that if this transfer happens, there's a chance that the pair could form an exciting double pivot at some point in the future.
However, with all that said, if the 22-year-old makes the move to Tottenham in the coming days, then one of his main obstacles to first-team football will be Bissouma, but how do the pair stack up?
Well, interestingly, when we take a look at their underlying numbers from last season, the "sensational" young talent, as dubbed by journalist Graeme Bailey, actually comes out ahead of the former Brighton & Hove Albion ace in the majority of metrics, and by quite some way at that.
For example, the Redcar-born gem comes out on top in statistics such as non-penalty expected goals plus assists, actual non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive passes and carries, passes into the penalty area, key passes, live passes, shot and goal-creating actions and successful take-ons, all per 90.
He even does better in some defensive metrics, such as blocks and ball recoveries per 90, showing that he can do a bit of everything.
A ball recovery is defined by the number of loose balls recovered by a player.
Now, you have to consider that the England U21 ace was playing in a weaker league, but the Championship has come on leaps and bounds in recent years, and the fact he's doing so well is undoubtedly encouraging.
Ultimately, Bissouma was underwhelming for much of last season, to put it diplomatically, and has already caused problems for Postecoglou this season, so it would make sense for the club to want to move him on, and in Hackney, they could have the perfect replacement and a player who could become something extraordinary in North London.
Therefore, Levy and Co should do what they can to secure the Boro ace's services before someone else does.