A promising link to a young left back

This is the first transfer rumor of the summer that I actually kind of buy. According to the Daily Mail, Tottenham are planning to make a move for Swansea City left back Ben Davies. The 21-year-old Welsh international is about as obvious a transfer target as could be imagined for Spurs. He's young and should have significant sell-on value if he develops. He has lots of Premier League experience, but as a fullback not named Luke Shaw, he's unlikely to cost an exorbitant fee. By all accounts, he's a cromulent defender with upside at a position of extreme need for Tottenham.

Of course, it's the Mail. Still, I prefer to believe it. Doesn't this sound highly plausible?

New Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has identified the capture of a new left-back as a summer priority, with Swansea’s Ben Davies the shock name on his hit list.

Spurs watched the 21-year-old extensively last season and his name will be recommended to Pochettino.

The most likely bottleneck for this transfer is, well, the most likely bottleneck is that the Mail just made it up. But assuming it's for real, the most likely bottleneck is the fee. While I would not expect Davies to cost too much, I can certainly see the haggling running on a while, and especially if Luke Shaw goes for silly money to Manchester United. But it's good to see a rumor appear that makes football sense.