Tottenham Hotspur fans, the bad thing may be happening.
90min reported on Thursday morning that Tottenham have accepted a £94.5m bid from Bayern Munich to sign the club's greatest ever player, Harry Kane.
Now with the ball firmly in Kane's court to decide where his future lies, we at 90min thought we'd give Spurs a helping hand in preparing for life without the striker.
Here's how Ange Postecoglou could line his Kane-less attack up for the 2023/24 season.
Using what's available
Luckily for Tottenham Hotspur, they already have Brazil's number nine on their books who can slot in at the tip of their attack in Harry Kane's absence.
Unluckily for Tottenham Hotspur, 'Brazil's number nine' right now isn't Ronaldo or Romario, it's a man who scored one Premier League goal last season.
Richarlison's poultry return during the 2022/23 campaign, however, was largely because he was played out of position in a role out wide. Now with potentially a chance to play as the main striker again, it is entirely possible the ex-Everton man brings his international form - he bagged ten goals in ten appearances for Brazil in 2022 - to club football.
Potential lineup:
Kulusevski - Maddison - Son
Richarlison
READ MORE ON HARRY KANE'S PROPOSED TRANSFER TO BAYERN MUNICH
All out attack
So how do you offset the loss of 35+ goals a season? Well, maybe you just first every attacker available onto the pitch at once. Go full Zdenek Zeman.
That's what this rather ridiculous 4-2-4 formation would achieve at least, although it would also leave the Tottenham backline astonishingly exposed, too.
Potential lineup:
Maddison - Bentancur
Kulusevski - Son - Richarlison - Solomon
Signing a 'Harry Kane replacement'
With £94.5m added to the transfer kitty, there aren't any excuses for Tottenham not going out and signing a new striker before the window closes.
The good news for Tottenham fans is that 90min recently reported the club have identified a number of forward options. Elye Wahi and Jonathan David are both on the Lilywhites' radar, but perhaps the most eye-catching player linked is Gift Orban.
The 21-year-old has scored a staggering 25 goals in 25 games for Gent and looks like the real deal.
Potential lineup:
Kulusevski - Maddison - Son
Orban
New signings only
Why sign one Harry Kane replacement when you can sign two? That's basically the methodology behind this lineup.
Along with Orban, Lille's David would be a very shrewd acquisition for Spurs. The Canadian managed a thoroughly impressive 23 Ligue 1 strikes last season and would undoubtedly help offset the goals lost through the sale of Kane.
Pairing David and Orban out with new signings Manor Solomon and James Maddison could be a way to rip off the 'painful rebuild' bandaid and truly start from scratch all over again.
Potential lineup:
Maddison - David - Orban - Solomon
LISTEN NOW TO 90MIN'S TALKING TRANSFERS PODCAST
On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss Bayern's failed third bid for Harry Kane, whether David Raya may dislodge Aaron Ramsdale as Arsenal's number one goalkeeper, West Ham's bids for Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay & more!
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
This article was originally published on 90min as How Tottenham's attack could line up without Harry Kane.
