It's been a successful pre-season for Tottenham Hotspur so far this year, with three wins on the bounce against Heart of Midlothian, Queens Park Rangers and most recently Vissel Kobe.
However, with the return of the Premier League now less than three weeks away, a lot still needs to be done, especially regarding the transfer window.
So far, the only permanent signings the Lilywhites have made this summer are Archie Gray and Yang Min-Hyeok, although they have been heavily linked with Juventus ace Federico Chiesa.
However, while the Italian international would likely be a great addition to Ange Postecoglou's squad, recent reports have touted a potentially more exciting and dangerous alternative from the Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur transfer news
According to a recent report from GIVEMESPORT, Tottenham have maintained their long-term interest in Wolverhampton Wanderers' star, Pedro Neto, ahead of a potential move in the coming weeks.
The report claims that the North Londoners are keen to add another quality attacker to their frontline this summer, and Postecoglou favours signing a player with Premier League experience.
This criterion has led them to Eberechi Eze and the Wolves ace. However, the report has revealed the Lilywhites believe there will be no room to manoeuvre on the Englishman's £60m price tag, while the Portuguese international will likely be available for less than his £60m valuation.
Should Spurs opt to sign Neto, he'll still likely cost more than the £21m fee Juventus reportedly want for Chiesa, but given his form last season, he'd be worth it.
How Neto compares to Chiesa
So, with it looking like Daniel Levy and Co could be opting to sign Neto over Chiesa this summer, how do the pair compare?
Well, from a pure output perspective, it's a clear and decisive victory for the Wolves man, even though he only produced one more goal involvement than his competition.
In just 24 appearances last season, the 24-year-old "beast," as former teammate Diogo Jota dubbed him, scored three goals and provided 11 assists, maintaining an impressive average of a goal involvement every 1.71 games.
In contrast, the Euro 2020 champion scored ten goals and provided three assists, but it took him 37 appearances to do so, resulting in a less impressive average of a goal involvement every 2.8 games.
How about the pair's underlying numbers then? Is it another easy win for the former Lazio winger when we take a look at what's going on under the hood?
In short, yes, yes, it is. For example, aside from a few, the Viana do Castelo-born star comes out ahead in the majority of underlying numbers and by quite some way, such as actual non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive passes and carries, passing accuracy, key passes, goal-creating actions, successful take-ons, ball recoveries and aerial duels won, all per 90.
Lastly, availability is one area in which you might expect the former Fiorentina dynamo to have the upper hand, but as it turns out, that's not the case.
In the last three seasons, he has missed 84 games for club and country through injury, while his competition has missed 50, and while that's still far from ideal, it's significantly better.
Ultimately, when it comes to both output and the underlying metrics behind that output, Neto is clear of Chiesa and is comfortably the superior winger at present. Therefore, while he'll undoubtedly cost more, Levy and Co must do what they can to bring him to N17 in the coming weeks.