So far, it's not really been the summer Tottenham Hotspur fans would have been after.

Thomas Frank might be an exciting appointment, but in terms of signings, Japanese defender Kota Takai, who cost around £5m, has been the only new face to join the club thus far.

Worse yet, they've had to watch their rivals make signing after signing, with Arsenal looking likely to land Swedish goal machine Viktor Gyokeres, while continuing to be linked with Real Madrid star Rodrygo.

However, it's not all doom and gloom, as the Lilywhites do appear to be making progress in their pursuit of Mohammed Kudus, and are even being linked with a potential alternative who could be their own Rodrygo.

Spurs eye brilliant Kudus alternative

While Spurs have been linked with several attackers since the transfer window opened this summer, the most significant saga has concerned Kudus.

In fact, the North Londoners have already made an offer of around £50m for the West Ham United star, which was quickly rejected, and now look ready to make another, although with the Irons holdingh out for £65m, it remains to be seen whether a third offer will be required.

However, while the former Ajax gem would be an undeniably exciting addition to the Lilywhites' squad, another name has now entered the fray: Jack Grealish.

Yes, according to recent reports via the Sun, Spurs are one of a few teams interested in the Manchester City star.

The report has revealed that, even though the Englishman cost Pep Guardiola's side £100m in 2021, he is now available for a much lower price of around £40m.

While that is certainly an attainable price for the North Londoners, they'll have to beat out the other interested parties, which include Aston Villa, Napoli and Newcastle United.

It might not be a transfer that's immediately popular with fans, but Grealish is still a talented player and someone who could be a good alternative to Kudus, not to mention the fact that he's been compared to Rodrygo.

How Grealish compares to Rodrygo & Kudus

The first thing to examine here is the comparison to one of Arsenal's key targets: Rodrygo.

It stems from FBref, which, after examining players in Europe's top five leagues, the Champions League, and the Europa League over the last 365 days, concluded that the Brazilian has been the third most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Englishman.

The best way to understand how this conclusion was reached is by taking a look at the underlying metrics in which they ranked closely, such as non-penalty expected goals plus assists, goals per shot, passing accuracy and more, all per 90.

Interestingly, the former Villa ace actually does marginally better than the Real star in most of those comparative statistics, suggesting that with more game time, he could still be a seriously effective winger.

With that said, how does he fare as an alternative to Kudus?

Well, and this might surprise some, given the reputation of the two players, but when it comes to output, it's the City ace who comes out on top.

In his 1521 minutes of action last season, across 32 appearances, the "immense" dynamo, as dubbed by content creator Steven Mcinerney, scored three goals and provided five assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 190.12 minutes.

In contrast, the Hammers' star scored five goals and provided four assists in 2721 minutes, across 35 appearances, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 302.33 minutes.

Furthermore, on top of the better raw numbers, the Birmingham-born monster can also cover positions on the wing and in midfield, so while he might not be quite as versatile as the Ghanaian star, he'd still provide Frank with tactical options.

Finally, even though the last few years have been far from ideal for the 29-year-old, he has experience playing in the biggest games and helped City win a treble, which may be the kind of know-how the new manager is looking for to help the club's crop of young talents.

Ultimately, this might not be the most popular transfer among fans to begin with, but Grealish can be just as, if not more effective, than Kudus, and based on the comparison by FBref, their own Rodrygo.