Nothing in football is ever certain but Tottenham Hotspur supporters can rest assured that their team is in for a gripping finale to Ange Postecoglou's first season at the helm.
Fifth-placed in the Premier League with just ten matches left to go, Spurs are on the heels of Aston Villa in the top four with Manchester United snapping at their feet in sixth.
Only a few days ago, Tottenham were buoyed by a resounding victory over fourth-placed Aston Villa and knew that by winning their game in hand they would leapfrog Unai Emery's side, but last weekend's sobering loss against Fulham at Craven Cottage comes as a bitter reminder that this is squad is a work in progress.
Radu Dragusin endured a starting debut to forget after signing from Serie A side Genoa in a £27m deal in January, but the Romanian centre-back was certainly not the only player at fault, with Yves Bissouma flattering to deceive and continuing to ebb and flow this year.
The tough-tackling midfielder is so talented and offers a singular quality in the centre of the park that no other Lilywhite can replicate to the same degree.
But Postecoglou has displayed a ruthless streak throughout his maiden year in charge and while Bissouma is a good player, would it be unjust to suggest there's an upgrade out there, somewhere?
Why Spurs signed Yves Bissouma
Tottenham secured the signing of Bissouma from Brighton & Hove Albion for a fee rising to £35m in July 2022 after his stellar efforts on the south coast, with Graham Potter, Seagulls manager at the time, hailing him an "incredible" talent.
Champions League football had been achieved under Antonio Conte and it was the allure of Europe's elite club competition that had persuaded the 27-year-old to close the door on his Brighton career and join the Spurs project in the capital.
The prominence that he had achieved with the Seagulls dissipated rather quickly at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the £55k-per-week ace only starting 11 Premier League matches all campaign, averaging just 0.7 tackles and 0.5 interceptions per match, as per Sofascore, while succeeding with just 47% of his contested duels.
Yves Bissouma's 2023/24 season in numbers
Described as a "monster" by journalist Aaron Stokes, Bissouma has enjoyed plenty of success when on the pitch this season but has missed five Premier League matches due to suspension and was culpable for a dreadful performance against Fulham on Saturday evening.
Writing in his post-match comments, football.london's Alasdair Gold handed the midfielder a lowly 3/10 score and wrote: 'Wasn't helped much by his wandering fellow midfielders but he struggled to make his presence felt in the game or inspire confidence in those around him.'
Matches played
20
Goals
0
Assists
0
Pass completion
92%
Key passes per game
0.4
Tackles per game
3.1
Interceptions per game
1.5
Duels won per game
6.3 (60%)
Dribble attempts per game
1.3 (72%)
Ball recoveries per game
4.6
Yellow cards
6
Yellow to reds
1
Red cards
2
Make no mistake, Bissouma is a high-class midfielder with a range of qualities in the engine room that suit Postecoglou's system well, but the best ability is availability and his recklessness has hampered Spurs' campaign.
As per FBref, the Malian midfielder ranks among the top 1% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, the top 14% for progressive passes, the top 10% for successful take-ons, the top 5% for tackles, the top 6% for interceptions and the top 12% for clearances per 90.
Clearly, he's blessed with some pretty remarkable attributes, an adept distributor, a fearsome recycler of possession and a deceptive dribbler.
But Bissoma has got to ensure that he sees out the remainder of the campaign with a level head and a focused drive toward ensuring Tottenham succeed in their pursuit of Champions League football.
Yves Bissouma's market value in 2024
According to Football Transfers' player valuation model, Bissouma is currently worth just £10m, which marks a startling £25m depreciation in less than two years since joining.
Sure, this is largely down to the dismal 2022/23 campaign, and this price tag should see a rise over the coming months given his comeback and cementation of a starring spot in the Tottenham team. However, the fact remains that Bissouma is continuing to flicker up and down, lacking the stability and consistency needed in this N17 squad.
Yves Bissouma
27
£10m
James Maddison
27
£34m
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
28
£27m
Rodrigo Bentancur
27
£23m
Oliver Skipp
23
£16m
Pape Matar Sarr
21
£13m
The fact that Bissouma is valued lower than Oliver Skipp, who is firmly a utility presence at the club, is indicative of his inconsistent performances, but he would be most disgruntled to learn that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg remains a more valuable asset than himself.
Hojbjerg is out of contract in 2025 and was expected to have completed a transfer away from Tottenham in January, only to reject interest from outfits such as French club Lyon.
Moreover, the Danish midfielder has only started six Premier League matches in 2023/24 and is too conservative and static on the ball to truly flourish in Postecoglou's system, averaging just 0.2 key passes, 0.9 tackles and two successful duels per game this season, as per Sofascore.
Spurs must bin forgotten player who's worse than Sessegnon
Ange Postecoglou’s squad bears no future for this dud…
ByAngus Sinclair Mar 17, 2024
While a prosperous future at Tottenham could be on the cards for Bissouma, he's not quite proving himself an immovable starter at the heart of this new project, and a discussion regarding his sale certainly wouldn't be a bad move as Tottenham look to gauge whether cashing in and reinvesting on a more reliable star could be worthwhile.