Three Tottenham players will come face-to-face with new signing Destiny Udogie for the very first time during the international break. With various players heading off across the globe, Ryan Sessegnon, Djed Spence and Oliver Skipp will represent England Under-21s in their two games.
First up is a trip to Pescara to face Italy Under-21s on Thursday, September 22, before they host Germany Under-21s at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane five days later. The encounter against Italy will see the Spurs trio play against Udogie, with Spence set to face a real battle down the wing against the youngster if both do indeed start.
Udogie looks destined to represent the Azzurri's senior side at some point in the not too distant future, with his Udinese boss even making it clear a few days ago that he was "surprised" the 19-year-old wasn't included by Roberto Mancini for their UEFA Nations League fixtures. "These decisions surprised me. I respect Mancini’s choices, but I was still surprised. I think Udogie is one of the best full-backs in the league, he proves that all the time," said Andrea Sottil (as reported by Football Italia).
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Udogie has demonstrated so far this campaign that he is one of the best full-backs in Serie A, thus highlighting why Fabio Paratici was so intent on bringing him to Tottenham for Antonio Conte. The Spurs boss was asked by football.london about the player last month and he stated that it is a "good investment" for the club as he is a "good prospect".
"You said it well, he's a player for the future," said the 53-year-old in his pre-match press conference for August's match vs Wolves. "I think he is a good prospect for Tottenham because we are talking about a young player.
"For sure this player needs to develop like Spence and in my opinion a good investment for the club. Now he continues to play in this season with Udinese and in this way he has the possibility to play regularly.
"When you are young you need to play to improve your experience. For sure we are talking about a good prospect, but we are talking about a player for the future not for the present. He has to develop and to grow with a group of players with more experience."
Udogie is most definitely growing as a player and has so far had a big impact for his team with two goals in the opening month of the season. Following such a positive start to the Serie A campaign, which included a terrific 4-0 win over Roma, Udinese made people really stand up and take notice with a 3-1 victory over Inter Milan on Sunday afternoon.
Starting the game as ever at left wing-back, Udogie once again caught the eye with an all-action display down his flank. Showing his athleticism throughout with some strong running down the wing to link up with the attack, he also played his part defensively with some key tackles in notable areas.
He even showed that he has composure in abundance a couple of minutes before his substitution in the 80th minute with three Inter players surrounding him on the halfway line. Despite turning back towards his own goal and with nobody there following a set-piece, Udogie kept his cool and played a stunning reverse pass between two opponents to play in his teammate on the right.
Receiving a rating of 7.5 on Fotmob, the left-sided player was accurate with 19 of his 20 passes, created two chances and made two interceptions and seven recoveries. It was another strong showing from Udogie and it has left Tottenham fans looking forward to his arrival next summer.
Udogie's prospective battle against Spence on Thursday afternoon is certainly going to be an interesting one and Tottenham's new right wing-back will be in for a major test against his future teammate if the Italian's form is anything to go by. Very much one for the future, Udogie is showing why he has a big future in the game right now.
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