Tottenham have completed the signing of Guglielmo Vicario from Italian side Empoli. The goalkeeper, who will wear the No.13 shirt for Spurs, has signed a five-year contract at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and joins for a reported £16.3million transfer fee.
Vicario's arrival in N17 sees Ange Postecoglou's team strengthen a priority position ahead of the team's return to pre-season training with long-serving Hugo Lloris expected to move on this summer. Signed from Lyon in 2012, the World Cup winner has signalled his intent to move on for a new challenge elsewhere after 11 years with the Lilywhites.
Amid plenty of talk of Tottenham making a big-money move for Brentford shot-stopper David Raya, the Bees' desire to receive £40million for the Spain international, who only has one year left to run on his contract, saw them instead make their move for Vicario.
Starting his career with Udinese after coming through their system, he moved to Venezia in 2015 before switching to Cagliari four years later. Joining Empoli on a season-long loan deal in July 2021, Vicario excelled for Gli Azzurri and the club exercised their option to purchase him the following summer.
Once again playing an integral role in Empoli finishing in mid-table, the 26-year-old's outstanding form saw him linked with the likes of Juventus, Inter Milan, Napoli, Bayern Munich and Manchester United. However, it is Tottenham who have nipped in ahead of the aforementioned clubs to complete the signing of Vicario.
Dubbed as a goalkeeper who "is doing things out of the ordinary" by Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon, the new Tottenham man has been rewarded for his top performances in Serie A with a handful of call-ups to the Italian international team by Roberto Mancini. Vicario is yet to make his senior bow for his country but that could soon come if he continues to wow between the sticks.
After penning a long-term contract in north London, Vicario becomes Postecoglou's second signing of the summer after Dejan Kulusevski's 18-month loan deal from Juventus was turned into a permanent move just over a week ago. Tottenham fans will be hoping a few more signings are to follow in the coming weeks before the team jets off to Perth, Bangkok and Singapore for their pre-season tour.
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