Ahead of his move to Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was predicted by former Italy and Inter star Gianluca Pagliuca to become "the most sought-after goalkeeper of the transfer window".
Spurs are set to sign the Empoli goalkeeper for a reported fee of €19million (£16.3m) with the 26-year-old having starred in Serie A for the past two years and been a member of Roberto Mancini's Italy squad. football.london reported this week that Fabio Paratici, who resigned as Spurs' managing director of football in April, had been an admirer of the goalkeeper, along with chief scout Leonardo Gabbanini, and he had made enquires about the shot-stopper's availability earlier this year.
Inter, Juventus, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Brighton have all been credited with an interest in the stopper in recent months. After exploring a move for Brentford's David Raya, Spurs had to move fast for Vicario due to the widespread belief that Inter were set to approach Empoli for the goalkeeper to make him their new number one if their stopper Andre Onana moves this summer, with United and Chelsea interested in the Cameroonian.
In March, Pagliuca was quoted by Sempre Inter when discussing a replacement for Onana as saying: "Vicario is a very good goalkeeper, he will be the most sought-after goalkeeper of the transfer window."
The Inter and Italy star was then quoted by Gazetta Dello Sport as also saying: "If Inter sell Onana for a good price and sign Vicario, that'll be a great deal for them. He's the goalkeeper I like the most in Serie A and has the right maturity now for the step up."
Another goalkeeper, Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon, is certainly someone who knows a good goalkeeper. Speaking last November, the 45-year-old, who is still playing for Parma, stated to Gianluca Di Marzio that "Vicario is doing things out of the ordinary".
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After making a triple save among others against Jose Mourinho's Roma in February, the former Tottenham boss said: "I must say that scoring goals against Vicario was difficult, he looked like the best goalkeeper in the world."
Tottenham will be hoping that they have the long-term successor in Vicario for Hugo Lloris, who announced publicly after the recent season ended that he wants to move on to a new challenge after 11 years at the club.
