It's fair to say that Tottenham's summer transfer business has not exactly worked out as planned.
A pivotal few months for the club with changes needing to be made after two seasons out of the Champions League, new managing director of football Fabio Paratici brought in five new players as part of their much-needed rebuild.
Serie A defender of the year Cristian Romero was the club's statement signing after joining on loan from Atalanta with view to a permanent move.
Pierluigi Gollini also arrived from the Italian side on loan as Spurs finally brought in some cover for Hugo Lloris, while Paratici raided La Liga for Emerson Royal and Bryan Gil from Barcelona and Sevilla respectively.
Tottenham's summer transfer business then came to a close with the addition of highly-rated Senegal international Pape Matar Sarr from Ligue 1 outfit Metz.
Speaking following the arrival of the talented midfielder, Paratici waxed lyrical about his signing and outlined the competition facing Tottenham for the player's signature.
"I think Pape is one of the most talented in Europe," said the Italian. “Our job is not to look just at tomorrow, but maybe also past tomorrow or next year. I think we made a great signing.
"In all of Europe they speak about this, a lot of teams were interested, a lot of teams were there to sign (him), so we made a very good signing.
“He needs experience, he needs to play games, to stay in one team and play regularly - a great investment for the Club, and a great vision for the future."
With four of the quintet remaining in the capital as part of Nuno Espirito Santo's plans for the 2021/22 season, Sarr returned to his former club on a season-long loan deal to help aid his development.
Making 26 appearances in all competitions last season for the French side, the 19-year-old will surpass that number this campaign, injury permitting, after already appearing in 22 games.
However, the issue Tottenham have currently is that he has found himself in and out of the team since October.
A regular starter for Metz prior to that as he played in a number of different midfield positions, Sarr has mainly had to make do with minutes off the bench since then with the odd start coming his way.
Absent for four games at the turn of the year after earning a call-up to Senegal's squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, the Spurs youngster only appeared in one of their seven fixtures as they went all the way in the competition to get their hands on the main prize.
Missing out in the first group game against Zimbabwe due to Covid, Sarr had to bide his time on the bench before he was given the final 12 minutes in their semi-final win over Burkina Faso.
Lining up with Nampalys Mendy, Idrissa Gana Gueye and Cheikhou Kouyate in their midfield three, all of whom have Premier League experience, it perhaps wasn't a surprise to see why Sarr wasn't given more minutes due to his inexperience on the international stage.
However, what may concern Paratici and Tottenham ahead of his summer return is his lack of starts for Metz since October's 3-0 home defeat against Rennes.
Coming off the bench in seven of his last 11 outings for his team, Sarr has only completed the full 90 minutes on three occasions since November, including last weekend's 0-0 draw at home to Nantes.
Spurs will be hoping Frederic Antonetti's selection for that game is indeed a turning point for the player following a tough few months as he quite simply needs to be starting games and building up that experience before heading back to N17 at the end of the season.
Tottenham haven't always had the best of luck in the loan market in previous years and a lack of starts for Metz recently won't exactly convince some fans that Sarr can come in and immediately contest for a place in Antonio Conte's squad given his struggles in France.
The Spurs boss will take a look at his player in pre-season and then the club will have to make a decision whether he can be part of their 2022/23 plans or if another loan spell is required.
With Romero the only one of the five summer additions to make a real impact in the Spurs team since August, Tottenham really need Sarr to finish the season in top form and show everyone why he was signed in the first place.
