Tottenham may have a huge summer ahead, and it could involve planning for a Championship season. The current situation would have been hard to imagine a year or two ago, but as things stand, Spurs are headed for the second tier.
Survival is possible, but unless Roberto De Zerbi and his men can spark some momentum, relegation is probable, and that could lead Spurs to turn to Žan Vipotnik to take them back to the Premier League.
Tottenham are only two points from safety, but they look far less capable of picking up points than West Ham above them, and while Nottingham Forest have a tricky run-in, they now only likely need four or five points to wrap up safety.
The race will likely go to the wire, and that means Spurs must draft up plans for all possible scenarios. The club's recruitment chiefs already likely have shortlists drawn up for the Premier League and Championship, and a list of the latter should start with the second tier's best striker, or at least the striker in the best form.
Tottenham have had attacking issues aplenty this season, safely in the bottom half when it comes to goals scored, with Randal Kolo Muani struggling to live up to expectations, while Dominic Solanke has only impressed in flashes.
Spurs are going to need an in-form player who has a proven ability to score goals next season, and in the Championship, there are few who look more capable than Swansea City's Vipotnik. The Slovenian is the second tier's leading scorer with 22 goals in 42 league appearances, also managing three assists, and that's for a Swansea side that currently sits in 11th and with no chance of competing for the playoffs.
In fact, the Swans have lost more games than they have won this season, but Vipotnik has still managed to stand out as the league's best goalscorer.
The striker fits Tottenham's style of play in being a striker who can hold the ball up and win headers, but unlike Solanke - and not to say he is a better player - but Vipotnik is able to regularly get in behind defences, something Solanke has struggled with in recent times, and most importantly, he has a proven ability to stay fit.
Solanke would be a superb weapon himself in the Championship, if Spurs do go down and manage to keep hold of him, but Vipotnik is a good fitness record, a superb scoring record and he turns up even when his team are not in great form, which is clearly something Tottenham's current attack has struggled with.
It's also worth mentioning, that even if Tottenham do stay up, they could well turn to Vipotnik to offer another option, although in that scenario, the Slovenian would likely be a back-up rather than a starter, at least until he proves himself at the very top level.
Matos praise
Speaking in February about Vipotnik's 'special' ability, Swansea boss Vitor Matos said: "Like I said after the game, he's special, he finds ways to score, that's another way, and he did that really well.
"Really pleased for him, for us, it was a really nice one to see it as well from the bench, so that's something to add and I hope he can keep going."
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