On the morning of January 28, Daniel Levy called Tottenham’s managing director Fabio Paratici, who was away on the continent, in a fury.
Overnight, Liverpool had gazumped Spurs’ move for Porto’s Luis Diaz after Levy and Paratici had laid the groundwork for an eye-catching deal.
Spurs had already been blown out of the water by Barcelona for wing-back target Adama Traore, and were facing a late scramble to improve their squad - and appease head coach Antonio Conte - in the final hours of the window.
Paratici turned to Dejan Kulusevski, who had first been mooted as a target at the start of the month and Conte believed could be an option both in the front three and at right wing-back.
The signing of Kulusevski in a double deal with his Juventus teammate Rodrigo Bentancur had a whiff of desperation, with Paratici seemingly calling-in an eleventh-hour favour with his former club.
At 21, Kulusevski is four years Diaz’s junior and was expected to take time to find his feet in English football, a view supported by two clunky appearances from the bench before his first start in February’s defeat to Wolves.
Two-and-a-half months later, there are few January signings, let alone Plan Bs who have worked out so impressively.
If Spurs finish in the top four - and they moved three points clear of Arsenal with Saturday’s 4-0 win at Villa Park - Kulusevski and Bentancur should go down as two of the best mid-season signings since the introduction of transfer windows.
In the steely win at Villa, Tottenham’s fourth victory on the bounce, Kulusevski was decisive again, delivering the crucial sucker-punch at the start of the second half with a brilliant finish, before setting up Heung-min Son’s hat-trick goal.
Since his debut, no-one in the Premier League has more assists than Kulusevski’s six and his strike at Villa was his third goal.
He looks ideally-suited to English football and there is now genuinely a case that Spurs have the most dangerous front three in the Premier League, along with Son and the peerless Harry Kane.
Kulusevski has not only proven effective in the final third, he has also quickly established himself as the link between attack and midfield, helping to knit together the rapid attacks which are the hallmark of a Conte team.
Deceptively strong and fast, he is already adept at using his body to shield the ball and capable with both feet, best illustrated by a brilliant right-footed cross to assist Son against Newcastle.
For the second game running, Kane did not score on Saturday but his influence was everywhere, not least in Kulusevski’s goal, an instinctive shift-and-shoot effort which nutmegged Tyrone Mings and whizzed across goalkeeper Emi Martinez, bearing all the hallmarks of a trademark Kane finish.
Kane won the flick-on in the build-up to Kulusevski’s strike and his second headed assist was sublime, the England captain glancing over his shoulder before deftly angling Cristian Romero’s pass into the channel for Son, who completed his hat-trick.
Kane, who was once all about goals, is now dominating games without scoring, or even having significant chances, and increasingly he is almost redefining the role of centre-forward. He is neither false nine nor true nine, but both, a kind of paradox nine, two players rolled into one.
Son, by contrast, has gone the other way to Kane, and is now less of an all-action winger than a lethal goalscorer. Two of the South Korean’s finishes were unstoppable first-time strikes off the post, and in between he finished coolly one-on-one with Martinez.
His hat-trick took him to 17 goals this season, the most from open play in the Premier League and just three shy of Mohamed Salah who is currently leading the race for the Golden Boot.
Of all the impressive stats about Spurs’ front three, the most striking is that since Kulusevski’s debut, the trio rank first, second and third for combined goals and assists in the Premier League, with Kane on 13, Son 12 and Kulusevski nine.
Liverpool and Manchester City clearly have more options in attack, evidenced by the substitutes in yesterday’s 2-2 draw at the Etihad, including Diaz.
The Portugal forward has settled quickly at Liverpool but, as it stands, no-one at Spurs would swap him for Kulusevski, who has elevated Spurs’ attack to new levels.
