Tottenham's Eberechi Eze transfer mess and what it means for Daniel Levy and Thomas Frank

There should be a sign hanging outside Tottenham Hotspur. One of those classic old-fashioned ones found in factories stating 'days since last incident'. Last night, someone would have placed a zero next to it.

For we're at that time of year again when the seemingly annual Spurs transfer scramble arrives late in the window, although this time it feels even more desperate than normal after a summer in which big statements have been made and there has been plenty of talking - a remarkable amount for a notoriously quiet club - yet little in the way of backing up those declarations.

It has been another period in which drama has not just constantly knocked on the club's door, it's kicked it down.

For within the space of just three months, Tottenham finally won their first trophy in 17 years, chairman Daniel Levy then declared it wasn't enough and that he wanted to win the Premier League and Champions League so sacked the head coach, brought in another, signed Mohammed Kudus, missed out on Morgan Gibbs-White after a messy affair, conducted a rather self-congratulatory interview mostly about the stadium with Gary Neville in which he said he's sure he'll get the credit for what he's done at Spurs when he's gone, sold the club's star player, saw main playmaker James Maddison lost to an ACL injury and then came the Eberechi Eze mess.

For many Tottenham supporters, that final one on Wednesday evening was the most embarrassing slap to the face to take as the Crystal Palace midfielder prepares to make his way to the other side of north London.

Spurs had gone into Wednesday's round of talks expecting to finally tie up the deal for Eze. They did to an extent, agreeing to Palace's terms after having already agreed to Eze's with the player ready to come to Tottenham. This week had dragged on as Palace had not finalised the deal because they wanted the player to be available for Thursday night's historic first European game for the Eagles.

Oliver Glasner had made it clear on Wednesday morning that Eze was going to start in the following day's UEFA Conference League clash against Fredrikstad and that was that.

Yes, Palace held off on finalising the deal in the past week because of that game but Tottenham have had weeks, months even years to sign Eze if you look at their long-standing interest in the player.

Spurs missed out on Gibbs-White almost a month ago when he stood on that pitch in Portugal repeatedly thanking "Mr Marinakis". Maddison fell to the turf in distress in the Seoul World Cup Stadium 18 days ago.

So why Tottenham were still faffing around on August 21 trying to sign a player they desperately needed, one who previously had a release clause, albeit a complicated one, and one they knew had a strong affinity for Arsenal should they come in, defies belief.

For the door was left ajar and the worst possible club strode through it. Arsenal officially walked through it late on Wednesday afternoon - also agreeing to Palace's terms around the original £68million release clause - and the player chose the Gunners due to his connection to them.

Eze has made no secret over the years of the fact that he's a big Arsenal fan and was desperate to play for them again one day after being let go at 13 from their academy. In this two-way fight, Spurs were always going to lose and that is why they needed to get this deal done before their local rivals really needed to come in after Kai Havertz's knee injury.

It all bears echoes of the summer of 2018 when Tottenham messed around over the signing of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa. The Midlands club had financial problems and wanted £25million for the midfielder. Spurs are believed to have offered £3million plus Josh Onomah among the early negotiations.

As the weeks went by, the north London club just assumed they would eventually get Grealish, who like Eze appeared to say his goodbyes to his club's fans and was keen on the move to link up with Mauricio Pochettino. Then Villa suddenly got new investment and when Tottenham scrambled and finally offered around the asking price, it was rejected and Grealish would sign a new contract.

Pochettino was left furious, without the playmaker he felt could push Spurs on and provide real competition and extra creativity alongside Christian Eriksen to keep the Dane fresh.

The then Villa boss Steve Bruce said after the bid was rejected: "If Tottenham had done their work early he would be a Spurs player now."

It's a familiar theme for Spurs and it's one that will follow Levy as the chief negotiator. For as much as the chairman believes the stadium will be his legacy, so to will the narrative of long drawn-out attempts to sign players and the comments from those within the game claiming that dealing with Tottenham over transfers is often a torturous affair.

Those infamous words from Sir Alex Ferguson about dealing with Levy being "more painful than my hip replacement" stick in the public consciousness. Perhaps the Spurs chairman saw it as a badge of honour, but it's not seen that way outside the club.

Other clubs have long, drawn out moves - take Manchester United and Bryan Mbeumo this summer for example - but the difference is that they invariably get the job done. For Tottenham fans it feels like there have been far more very public near misses than big signings ready for the now.

And that was meant to be the key aspect this summer - the need for players for now. Twelve months ago and Ange Postecoglou had pushed Tottenham back up to fifth place and it was time to kick on. Spurs instead signed one ready-made player in Dominic Solanke and otherwise brought in a group of teenagers.

They still managed to win a trophy though so again a need to push on. Regardless of the debate over replacing Postecoglou with Thomas Frank, it created a period of time when Tottenham could not move quickly for targets due to the Dane needing to establish himself, exactly what was required and for the recruitment department to build up their lists for a different kind of head coach.

There were a few obvious candidates though with Frank's feelings on Mbeumo, Christian Norgaard and Yoane Wissa very clear. By the time Tottenham got themselves going though, the first two were locked in on moves to United and Arsenal and Wissa would be dependent at that point on Spurs having the space to move for him which they did not.

Gibbs-White was Frank's top choice for the No.10 role and he'd wanted him since the player's Wolves days. His physical data was perfect alongside his creativity and passing ability.

What happened next has been written about and spoken about at length as well as that secret release clause. Spurs would later put in a higher bid for Gibbs-White than the one that began the saga and there's no escaping the thought process that if they had led with that offer then perhaps Forest, who reportedly were open to selling the player to Manchester City earlier in the summer, and Mr Marinakis might have negotiated rather than shutting everything down.

Instead they had to be content with a phone call from Gibbs-White to Frank, apologising for the way things had played out. Perhaps the transcript of that call will go in the drawer alongside the letter Rivaldo once sent Glenn Hoddle explaining why he chose Milan over Spurs.

Tottenham eventually switched to Eze when they thought Arsenal were cooling their interest. The Palace man's physical data did not match Gibbs-White's but he had that magic in his boots to be a game-changer and there was every belief within Spurs that they could quickly get him up to speed for Frank's fast-moving, pressing system.

That will no longer be necessary. Arsenal made their move, piggy-backing Spurs' negotiations, and showing how a deal can be done quickly.

There has been plenty of talk this summer about Tottenham thinking like a big club but their local rivals showed them how to act like one and that will sting the most inside Hotspur Way.

Eze will be Arsenal's seventh big signing of the summer and Mikel Arteta's side had already spent around £200million before his arrival will be confirmed after Thursday night's European match.

The Gunners finished second in the Premier League while Spurs finished 17th yet have signed just one big new face in the £55million Kudus, as well as a loan deal for Joao Palhinha. How is that gap meant to be closed?

There's very little new about Frank's squad for a season in which Levy has made it clear that he expects the club to compete on all fronts, with the Champions League back on the menu.

Tottenham must react to this latest transfer window mess in a big way but time is running out to sign the No.10, winger and centre-back that Frank wants. They have around a week-and-a-half to do what they've had months to achieve and every club will smell their desperation from a mile away while knowing they had the funds to sign Gibbs-White and Eze and attempt to move for Savinho.

There's been a lot of trying and it's all been particularly trying for the Tottenham supporters, who were sold a dream of pushing on and challenging for everything and have instead been handed the same old scenario of late transfer scrambles and a club bring reactive rather than proactive. Players galore will be linked with Spurs in the coming days, many of whom will be nowhere near the level they need.

There are frequent appraisals of departments within Tottenham every year as the club examines how they can be better with changes aplenty often made. The same will have to apply to the recruitment side of things when this summer ends, including Levy's own role as the closer in any negotiations. Spurs are nowhere near where they should be by this point in the transfer window.

This was meant to be a time of kicking on after a special night in Bilbao when the club finally shed the 'Spursy' tag. Much of what has happened since feels like someone has stuck it back on with Sellotape.

Eze come, Eze go? Unfortunately he went and now Tottenham must once again scramble to save their summer and ensure Thomas Frank has some chance of meeting expectations that currently have little place in reality.