Lucas Moura has only started once in the Premier League since his £25m arrival from Paris Saint-Germain in January. That start came against Brighton two and a half months after his move.
The Brazilian has impressed on a number of occasions when given the opportunity, but I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that Mauricio Pochettino is not convinced by the winger.
I could be wrong but you may have noticed in recent weeks a large number of transfer stories linking us with players, nearly all of which are either central midfielders or right-wingers.
For sure, we shouldn’t take much notice of such rumours, but two newspapers now (the Mirror and now Record in Portugal) believe the club have shortlisted Gelson Martins, Wilfried Zaha and Bordeaux’s Malcom as top summer targets.
If even one of those links were true, it would surely be the writing on the wall for Lucas. He has hardly featured, even without added competition, so what chance would he have with another signing?
The argument could be made that Poch has been easing him into life in the Premier League. He rarely played for PSG in the first half of the season after being frozen out.
He would have needed game time to gain match fitness before being given his shot in league games. He was given that time in the FA Cup, but he has played just 122 minutes of Premier League action in total, despite being in the matchday squad for eight straight matches.
Our no.27 got just one minute to impress in the two legs against Juventus, and when it came to the crucial FA Cup semi-final, he was again a substitute, despite featuring prominently in the previous rounds.
I thought he did well when he came on at Wembley. He was positive, direct and much more of a threat than our other attackers in the second half. So, with four games left, will he now get his chance to shine?
If he doesn’t, then it seems his Spurs career could end before it has even begun. I may be proven wrong. He could need a full pre-season under Poch before the manager gives him a good run in the side. If we do sign another winger, I can’t see it happening though.