While other clubs are throwing money around like drunken sailors, the Mirror sports writer has been impressed by Daniel Levy's business this summer
You can never say never, of course.
There is always one deal for one player that looks too good to turn down for Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
For the time being, though, both he and the club’s fans must be delighted to be standing outside the madness of this summer’s spending spree.
We’ve all been expecting big money to be spent after a season in which complacency managed to cost the established elite big time.
Just a few weeks into this transfer window, however, clubs are throwing cash around like drunken sailors.
Leicester had bids of £20m and £25m rejected for Watford’s Troy Deeney, who scored all of 13 goals last season – his only campaign in the Premier League.
Common sense eventually prevailed and they opted instead for £16.6million CSKA Moscow striker Ahmed Musa.
Crystal Palace saw their £31.5m bid for Marseille striker Michy Batshuayi gazumped by Chelsea, but bounced back by offering a similar amount for Liverpool striker Christian Benteke.
West Ham have yet to be scared off by Lyon’s £40m asking price – before bonuses – for striker Alexandre Lacazette. And then you come to the wages.
Palace had offered Batshuayi £110,000-a-week, shattering their wage ceiling, before Chelsea came in for him. Benteke is on even more at Liverpool. They will have to meet that if they want him – but the deal is still on.
On Wednesday night West Ham sent jaws crashing to the ground in amazement on social media as it emerged they had offered 32-year-old Carlos Tevez £150,000-a-week plus bonuses to make an emotional return to the club.
The striker’s response that he’d only come for £250,000-a-week, though, sucked any romance out of the offer.
It was also an indication that even the past-it players know that there are opportunities to cash in on English football’s bumper new TV deal.
Such are the escalating finances in football, we have all long since accepted that Manchester United are going to break the bank for Juventus superstar Paul Pogba.
Even so, £100m for a player outshone by the likes of Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann at the Euros would set a new world record, beating the £85m paid for Real Madrid for Gareth Bale three years ago by some distance.
Yet that too is very much on.
The soap operas surrounding John Stones – for whom Everton rejected £38m last summer – and team-mate Romelu Lukaku have yet to be played out.
City too have yet to kick into gear with their spending while Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is still scouring Europe for a striker.
On a lesser scale, Jordon Ibe – with just one Premier League goal in 42 appearances – found himself the target of a shock £15m bid from Bournemouth. Obviously Liverpool snapped their hands off.
That new TV deal really does have a lot to answer for.
Amid it all there has been some sane business completed. The Southampton deal for Norwich winger Nathan Redmond, just two years older than Ibe but way more experienced, came to just £11million.
The £3.8m paid by Middlesbrough for Ajax winger Viktor Fischer may prove to be a snip by midway through next season.
At just 26 and with World Cup, Europa League, Africa Cup of Nations and Champions League experience, Algerian winger Sofiane Feghouli looks a steal on a free transfer for West Ham.
And Tottenham’s £11m for Victor Wanyama from Southampton is cracking business. The midfielder has worked with Mauricio Pochettino before so he will hit the ground running.
He can replace – or play alongside – Eric Dier and he will almost certainly improve a club with one of the best defensive records in the Premier League last season.
The Alkmaar and Holland striker Vincent Janssen also looks a tasty bit of business from Levy and Pochettino.
With Batshuayi moving for nearly double the Dutchman’s £17m price tag and Lacazette poised to go for more than double that fee, Spurs will be happy to have landed a frontman so realistically priced.
With 27 goals in 34 games last season, plus three in his last four for his country, Janssen’s numbers compare favourably to both those players.
The deal for him also provides us with hope that football hasn’t quite lost its marbles just yet.
With just under two months to go of the window, however, don’t hold your breath.
