We're back here... again.
Same club, similar scenario, and with Daniel Levy once more the key protagonist.
The clock now really is ticking down on Harry Kane's hopes of sealing his transfer to the Premier League champions.
How the situation has come to this when Kane informed his club he wanted to leave back in May is both astounding and unsurprising in equal measure.
But that's how Tottenham owner's would have wanted it, of course, and Manchester City have little choice but to play ball with the master of transfer negotiations.
They would have known that all along. Yet for Pep Guardiola it will be a minor inconvenience when he has his first choice target lining up in City blue once the deadline has passed.
Because that's the outcome we're all labouring towards. If we're not, then something has gone seriously wrong.
The fact City are still pursuing a deal for Kane suggests they are prepared to go over and beyond to get him, and that a deal - even with Levy - can be struck somewhere.
Whether that's at the £160million price tag being demanded is another matter, but is also pretty immaterial at this stage.
If City - with their sovereign wealth backing - did not believe so, they'd have moved on by now.
While for Tottenham's owner, why fix what isn't broken.
As soon as England's captain made even the slightest murmur he wanted to move on, you can bet your last pound that Levy would have been configuring an exit strategy.
City's interest brought that plan of action to the fore this summer, but they've had to abide by Levy's playbook.
Kane's contract not ending until 2024 only gave Levy the bargaining chip he needed to reap the full rewards.
Perhaps the seed was sown when Kane signed that deal back in 2018.
And you'd doubt that a single person at Man City ever thought an opening bid of £100m was ever going to tempt Levy into a quick sale, particularly when only £75m of it was being offered up front.
Since then he has made all the same noises, that Kane is not for sale, that he's going nowhere.
Pretty soon after that Levy reportedly stopped taking calls from Man City. Refusing to even entertain the prospect of his star player flying the nest.
But he knows better than anyone that keeping an unhappy player is a counterproductive exercise.
He also knows better than anyone how to sell a wantaway player for the greatest profit. Hence all the familiar tactics to drive his price up.
The parallels with Gareth Bale, Dimitar Berbatov and Luka Modric have been well worn already, as has the same process within which Levy likes to operate.
City too will have been more than aware that entering into discussions for one of Levy's assets would incur a transfer premium, as well as the headache to go with it.
It's a price they are willing to pay for a player who will undoubtedly give them an even greater chance of adding more major honours to their trophy cabinet.
Where will Kane be playing his football after August 31? Have your say below.
That alone is worth their part in this summer's long-running transfer saga, while Kane will get the opportunity he has craved for so long.
Yet make no mistake - the winner in this battle was always going to be Daniel Levy.
Yes he will lose Tottenham's greatest goalscorer in recent memory. But in return he is going to - eventually - command top whack for a player who has just reached his peak both professionally and in terms of value.
City will almost certainly improve their offer. Levy will squeeze every last drop of cash out of them and get close-ish to the figure he first plucked out of thin air and expected no one to meet.
If anything, Real Madrid's £160m bid for Kylian Mbappe - who is into the last year of his contract - will only have strengthened Levy's resolve.
In the same breath, it will also have given him the last grain of perspective he needs to sanction the move.
Selling Kane next summer would not attract a fee as big.
That will not have been lost on Levy. Nor will the fact there is no guarantee on how long Kane - now 28 - will continue to perform at the highest level.
Amidst Tottenham's fresh start under Nuno Espirito Santo, losing Kane to a club who are currently not really considered one of their close rivals seems like good business.
Despite their opening day victory, Spurs are still streets behind City in terms of challenging.
The time for building a team around Kane began to evaporate when Mauricio Pochettino was handed his P45.
So it makes sense for Levy to move on, pocket the windfall and reinvest in Tottenham's future.
But he already knew that.
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