If Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici had worked faster and with more ambition, then it probably would have been a lot different for Tottenham and Adama Traore.
Leading up to the January transfer window, and during the month itself, there was a lot of talk about the 26-year-old possibly joining Spurs and Antonio Conte.
There was even a suggestion by Fabrizio Romano on Twitter that Spurs had agreed on personal terms with the Wolves flyer.
But the Spanish winger, in the end, got a knock on the door from his boyhood club, Barcelona, and signed for them instead, with claims that he turned down more money from Spurs to join the Catalan giants.
Well, upon his return to Barcelona colours, Traore made quite the impression.
Spanish football expert, Guillem Balague, claimed on Twitter that he has hardly seen a debutant ‘affect a game so much’ as Traore did during Barcelona’s 4-2 win against champions, Atletico Madrid.
In 20 Premier League games this season, Traore failed to register an assist, but it has only taken him one La Liga game, upon his return to Spain, to get his statistical train going.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Traore fairs in Xavi’s more astute, possession-based, short and sharp style of play.
Of course, if Spurs, with their new deadline day signings, Rodrigo Bentancur and, especially, Dejan Kulusevski, start to fly, then Traore will be pretty quickly forgotten about in north London.
But if Spurs head in the wrong direction, and the £29 million man (Mirror) does the business in La Liga, then, understandably so, questions will be asked.
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