Tottenham supporters might not get the joy of watching him send a 30-yard screamer whistling into the top corner, but Franco Baldini – their new technical director – could be regarded as the club's most galvanic signing this summer.

After years of numerous Spurs officials working tirelessly to bring in top-class players that would consistently deliver Champions League football, and more often than not toiling away until the final day of a transfer window only to settle for second best, the 52-year-old has swooped into White Hart Lane and dropped off a quartet of quality as if he'd just been to the shops for cannoli and coffee.

The boss of the house must be very happy, and it looks like Baldini is going back out for biscotti too.

Like the Ledley King of old in the back-four; Baldini makes his job look easy.

Of course, like a high-class defender who never trains, Baldini's job is anything but easy. Yet his no-fuss, no-frills signings of Roberto Soldado, Paulinho, Nacer Chadli and Etienne Capoue, have not only delivered four players from the very top bracket and allowed enough time for Andre Villas-Boas to convert them to his system, but he has also highlighted everything Tottenham were doing wrong before him.

The club's problems in the market have frustrated supporters for years now, ever since Harry Redknapp's appointment, and personality, formed a clash of philosophies that always made a sporting director unlikely. Actually, Spurs fans gladly waved “ba-bye” to the role of the sporting director and the bad reputation of Damien Comolli – the last person to hold this title until 2008.

But, in actual fact, they were also waving off the club's ability to conduct smooth transfers. Comolli may hold a reputation among supporters for bringing in over-priced super-flops like Darren Bent and David Bentley. But, while an uncomplicated transfer might seem trivial compared to the actual ability of the player in question, make no mistake; it is paramount. Suits must not be rumpled.

Despite Comolli being sacked and Redknapp – a man lauded for his consummate dealership – brought in as a necessary and ultimately justified appointment as manager at that time, this is actually where Tottenham's transfer problems began. Go on, let the eyes roll back with irony.

Since 2008, the job has predominantly been in the hands of the chairman Daniel Levy and his shrewd approach to player transactions may have kept Spurs slick and profitable as a business, but it has arguably contributed to the team's failure to consistently qualify for the Champions League. Levy is by no means the best around at bringing in players, nor is it actually his job, and it is the fact that he has had to juggle this responsibility with so many others that has caused Spurs to be such a failure in pushing new players through the door.

Levy has always preferred the lazily dubbed 'European' management structure (it is used all over the world) with a 'sporting' or 'technical' director working in tandem with a head coach – and for good reason. Not only does it allow him to unburden himself of the responsibility but it works. Even Redknapp, who has always prided himself on his own ability to capture players, had a sporting director to thank for the team that delivered him Champions League football.

Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Tom Huddlestone and Benoit Assou-Ekotto all came in during Comolli's time at the club and were essential to that successful 2009-10 season under Redknapp. Whether or not Comolli can champion these signings alone is irrelevant (Jol apparently persuaded Bale to join Spurs, while Levy was reportedly responsible for Modric) because he undoubtedly made sure they all happened smoothly.

Since Comolli's exit, Tottenham have rarely seen a smooth transfer. They failed to bring in a first-class striker in some six transfer windows, with every forward in the known football universe, from Diego Forlan to Sergio Aguero and Leandro Damiao, linked with a move to White Hart Lane. Such has been the endless list of possible incomers to Spurs, the club's fans have to be forgiven for their hyped-up cynicism and pessimism. And, along with them, Redknapp and Villas-Boas should also be forgiven for finding it difficult to shake the dismay from their faces in press conferences at the end of each August and December.

The problem has not been attracting these players to the club in principle, with Tottenham able to lure Modric, Rafael van der Vaart, Emmanuel Adebayor, Hugo Lloris, Sandro and Mousa Dembele without a sporting director to make sure there isn't so much as a hair in their aeroplane food. And, in all but the case of van der Vaart, these players were brought in without Champions League football secured.

Rather we have witnessed repetitive, tiring reports of failed negotiations, disagreement, desperate, last-minute lunges for players that lacked serious thought (Charlie Adam in January of 2011 being the most notable example) and, most frustratingly, the running out of time on deadline day. It is no coincidence that, after bringing in four important players early in the current window, Tottenham won their first fixture of the season since 2009.

As easily as blowing out a candle, Baldini has removed the problem.

There is even an example of his ability in process as this is published. Word up is that Anzhi Makhachkala forward Willian has arrived in London for a medical less than 24 hours after Spurs usurped Liverpool in the contest for his attention, while simultaneously fixing his beam on another of the world's emerging talents - Erik Lamela of Roma.

The man is a transfer machine and he himself may have been the missing ingredient for Tottenham all along.

However, the heavy question remains as to whether his work has a bitter-sweet edge. Is he working to replace Gareth Bale or to complement him?

Follow Lyall Thomas on Twitter: @LyallThomas