Harry Kane’s future remains uncertain, but one thing could not be clearer: he would score a shedload of goals for Ange Postecoglou's ultra-attacking side.
Kane offered Spurs a tantalising glimpse of what might be possible next season, as well as a timely reminder of his all-consuming importance to the club with four goals in yesterday's 5-1 friendly win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
As it stands, perhaps only chairman Daniel Levy, who is in the US, knows whether Kane is likely to still be a Spurs player in September, and certainly Postecoglou remains in the dark.
"I've said to [the club] that if the status quo changes, then inform me," Postecoglou said after yesterday's game. "I just want to deal with what's in front of me because, irrespective of the outcome of [Kane's situation], I'm building a team here."
Even Kane, who captained the side as he has done throughout pre-season, appears a little unsure of what is to come and there was no goodbye yesterday, although he conducted a customary lap of the pitch afterwards, applauding fans.
"I don't even know what's in Harry's mind, let alone anyone else's," added Postecoglou. "All these things will play out over the next period. We'll deal with what happens from there."
Despite his interest in listening to a proposal from Bayern Munich, Kane is clearly laser-focused on the task at hand, evidenced by his clinical display against Shakhtar in a friendly to raise funds for the people of war-torn Ukraine. He was twice assisted by James Maddison — hinting at a potentially fruitful partnership — and once each by Dejan Kulusevski and Manor Solomon.
Given Spurs's new-found commitment to attacking under Postecoglou, the 30 League goals Kane scored for Antonio Conte's staid team last season could easily be surpassed — a selling point not lost on the head coach.
"The way the team plays will help him as well," Postecoglou said. "He loves scoring. We created a load of chances and he was the beneficiary of that."
While there will surely be no repeat of two years ago, when Kane pushed to join Manchester City and subsequently sat out the opening-day win over the champions, it remains firmly in Spurs's interest not to drag out a decision over his future.
Postecoglou yesterday played down talk of Bayern setting a deadline for Spurs to respond to their latest bid for Kane, suggesting the end of the window is the only real cut-off point for a deal, but it would hamstring the head coach if his talisman is sold towards the end of the month.
Postecoglou's side is taking encouraging shape — even if he "wasn't delighted" with some aspects of yesterday's display and believes there is still "a lot of work to do" to change his players' mindsets — and Kane is currently the beating heart of his rebuild.
He has started all three pre-season friendlies so far and, if Spurs still have not accepted Bayern's latest offer, he will presumably continue in their final warm-up game against Barcelona tomorrow, before they start the season at Brentford on Sunday.
"I can't wait [around] for a decision either way to get going," said Postecoglou. "We don't have the time or the luxury to do that."
Postecoglou could not use Richarlison yesterday, with the Brazilian missing with a knock but expected to return against Barca, and instead Kane was replaced for the final 10 minutes by youngster Dane Scarlett, who scored.
In the event that Spurs reluctantly sell Kane to avoid potentially losing him on a free next summer when his contract is due to expire, Richarlison would be the obvious replacement, but Brazil's No9 is a very different player, preferring few touches to Kane's many.
As the season draws closer, Postecoglou needs to know whether he is building a side around Kane, at least for a year, or building a new era without him.
