Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly made a move to sign a Premier League-proven talent…
What's the latest on Harvey Barnes to Tottenham Hotspur?
That's according to the Daily Mail, who report that Spurs had lodged a £50m double bid for both James Maddison and Harvey Barnes.
It is a move that has been met with widespread ridicule, as Lilywhites chairman Daniel Levy continues to short-change his rivals. However, Ange Postecoglou will likely not be as amused, as he seeks to make his first signing since being appointed earlier this month.
Although it is set to be rejected, it does mark a statement of intent from the Lilywhites, who are setting out their plans for the coming transfer window.
However, to tempt only the £35m-rated wide man, they will certainly have to up their price. Leicester City were commanding a fee of £50m for the 25-year-old alone last summer.
Would Harvey Barnes improve Tottenham Hotspur?
As a left winger, his acquisition by Spurs would immediately put Heung-min Son's place in the side under fire, especially after the torrid term the South Korean has just endured, in which his stock plummeted.
The 30-year-old star would score just ten league goals, marking a miserable downturn from the 23 he notched the season prior, and even the 17 the year before that.
Although the north London outfit suffered a poor season themselves, it did not excuse the anonymity of their usually ever-reliable goal machine. This left the attacking burden solely on Harry Kane, who still mustered 30 goals to emphasise this gulf in class.
However, frustratingly for Antonio Conte, Cristian Stellini and eventually Ryan Mason, a lack of viable alternatives meant the former Bayer Leverkusen dynamo still featured in 36 out of their 38 Premier League games.
He could not be dropped to emphasise his unacceptable form, and so he trundled on with his levels below average.
To sign Barnes would give the struggling South Korean some ample competition at last, especially seen as the one-time England international outscored him in a Foxes side that eventually fell to relegation.
His 13 strikes in the most recent Premier League campaign marked a goalscoring career-best for the England gem, who has previously been lauded as a "huge talent" and a truly "special" footballer by journalist Adam Bate in the past.
With sheer pace and a thunderous right foot akin to Son, but at five years his junior, this could be a signing both for the near future and to reignite their once dependable finisher in the present.
After all, at the time when pundit Noel Whelan suggested his pairing with Kane was "the best partnership in world football", he was battling for his spot with a more spirited Lucas Moura, Dejan Kulusevski on top form, and Steven Bergwijn.
Barnes could arguably surpass all three of those options, to either usurp Son or spur him back to his brilliant best.