Tottenham Hotspur sit rock bottom of the Premier League after two matches, nursing a -5 goal difference — a grim opening that even the most battle-scarred Spurs supporter would have struggled to predict. The summer had seemed to promise something different.

Spurs spent heavily and with intent this transfer window, bringing in Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Savio, Jan Paul van Hecke, and Omar Marmoush, among others. Genuine quality. Players with top-level pedigree. The kind of incomings that generate genuine optimism for a push toward European football.

Which makes their final pieces of business all the more puzzling.

Chelsea's wage bill problem — and Spurs' unexpected role in solving it

Ahead of the transfer deadline on Tuesday at 11pm BST, Tottenham Hotspur are set to bring in Chelsea pair Mykhailo Mudryk and Tosin Adarabioyo. Chelsea are keen to move the duo on primarily to ease a bloated wage bill. Spurs, it appears, are only too willing to help.

Mudryk will arrive on a season-long loan, while Adarabioyo is expected to complete a permanent transfer for around £7 million. Between them, the pair contributed zero goals and zero assists across 23 Premier League appearances last season — numbers that make the business difficult to justify from Tottenham Hotspur's perspective.

Chelsea, meanwhile, are in considerably better shape. Enzo Maresca's side opened the Premier League season with back-to-back victories — a 3-2 win over Brighton and a 4-3 triumph against Fulham — and sit fourth in the table. Last season they finished 10th, just nine points ahead of Spurs' total of 41, a tally that left the North London club flirting with relegation deep into the final weeks of the campaign.

A concerning conclusion to an otherwise serious summer

The contrast is stark. Chelsea have offloaded two fringe players who offered little in the Premier League last season, lightened their wage burden in the process, and watched a direct rival absorb the cost. It is difficult to see what Tottenham Hotspur gain in return.

There is a reasonable argument for recruiting from Manchester City — Savio and Marmoush bring proven top-level experience from Pep Guardiola's system, and Manchester City are expected to challenge for the title again this season. But players released from Chelsea's squad with negligible Premier League impact represent an entirely different proposition.

After a summer that carried genuine promise, Tottenham Hotspur's transfer window looks set to close on a note of concern. While fans will rightly pin their hopes on the likes of Tonali, Fernandes, Savio, and Marmoush delivering, the Mudryk and Adarabioyo deals deserve far greater scrutiny — because Chelsea, at this point, appear to have come out of this arrangement laughing.