As Tottenham flounder Paulo Dybala earns rave reviews in Juventus comeback

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Tottenham Hotspur are out of the EFL Cup following a penalty shoot-out loss to Colchester United in Essex last night. Spurs fielded youngsters Troy Parrott and Japhet Tanganga but they cannot be blamed for an insipid performance from several seniors at the club. 

It caps off a bad week for last season’s Champions League finalists, with the team seemingly in disarray. 

Tottenham’s inability to bring in a suitable Harry Kane alternative was yet again punished yesterday. Parrott is supremely talented but asking him to thrive upfront in this underperforming team was a tough ask. 

Whilst Fernando Llorente is flourishing in Italian football it is another Serie A star who confounded a missed opportunity from the summer last night. 

As Tottenham were being dumped out of the Carabao Cup by League Two opposition, Paulo Dybala was helping Juventus come back from 1-0 down to beat Brescia 2-1. 

The Argentine was a summer transfer target for Tottenham Hotspur. As reported by Sky Sports in August, Tottenham even agreed a £64.4 million fee with Juventus for his signature. 

However, a myriad of different reasons meant a deal did not go through, including his confusing image rights and the Bianconeri’s lack of a suitable replacement. 

Dybala did not score against Brescia yesterday but in Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence was the star man in attack for the Old Lady. 

His performance even saw former Juventus hero Claudio Marchisio call him a ‘pure champion’ on Twitter. 

Tottenham needed to find a player who could properly enhance Kane’s talents and also act as his back-up for this season. Instead, Pochettino will again be left trusting wingers playing through the middle but instead of Llorente, he has a 17-year-old boy in Parrott as his genuine Plan B. 

Failing to secure Dybala, or indeed any other option, looks a big transfer mistake from Tottenham this summer.