Tottenham are hoping to seal a deal for Empoli goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to complete a process begun under former managing director of football Fabio Paratici.
Spurs are understood to be growing in confidence that a move for the 26-year-old, reported to be worth €19million (£16.3million), will be sealed in the coming days as they look to secure a long-term successor for Hugo Lloris, who publicly announced his desire to leave the club for a new challenge after 11 years in north London. football.london reported last December that Tottenham had already decided to sign the Frenchman's eventual successor this summer and that move for a more immediate heir was stepped up in the season's final months.
Spurs narrowed down their search with a shortlist that included the likes of Brentford's David Raya, Valencia's Giorgi Mamardashvili and Vicario, who has been earning rave reviews in Serie A this season. They also had to factor in securing a goalkeeper who could fit new head coach Ange Postecoglou's demands for a shot stopper who can also get the ball moving quickly, with little hesitation, in starting to build up possession from the back for the Australian's relentless attacking brand of football.
football.london understands that Paratici, who resigned as Spurs' managing director of football in April, had been an admirer of Vicario, along with chief scout Leonardo Gabbanini, and Paratici made enquires about the goalkeeper's availability earlier this year.
Brentford would not budge on their £40million valuation of Raya, who has just 12 months left on his contract, a transfer fee that would have placed the 27-year-old as the fourth most expensive goalkeeper in the history of the game, replacing Ederson who cost Manchester City £34.7million in 2017.
Spurs decided to push forward with a move for Vicario, who has been earning plaudits across Italy thanks to his rapid development in the past two seasons after helping keep then promoted Empoli up the Serie A table with his ability in goal, first on loan from Cagliari before joining permanently last summer.
READ MORE: James Maddison and Spurs' plans to help transform Postecoglou's midfield
Inter, Juventus, Napoli, Manchester United and Brighton have all been credited with an interest in Vicario and the view in Italy is that Vicario was second only to Inter's Andre Onana in Serie A with his performances last season and has become the second best Italian stopper behind PSG's Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The latter view was solidified by the 26-year-old's recent call-up to Roberto Mancini's Italy squad where he was on the bench for the Nations League finals this month.
Spurs had to move fast for Vicario due to the widespread belief that Inter were set to approach Empoli for the goalkeeper if Onana moves this summer, with United and Chelsea interested in the Cameroonian.
When it comes to fitting into Postecoglou's system, football.london understands that Vicario has been working a lot on his ability with his feet in recent years, leading to a marked improvement, and the feeling with the Italian is that while his entire game has improved rapidly he has a high ceiling which means he can continue to get better.
Spurs fans will be hoping for him to make more of an impact than Paratici's last Italian goalkeeping acquisition, Pierluigi Gollini. Both Paratici and Nuno Espirito Santo expected the then on-loan Atalanta keeper to swiftly take Lloris' place within a few months of joining but he never made the impact expected and returned to Italy without the option taken to make his loan move a permanent one.
With Vicario there is a hope that Tottenham have stolen a march on a player who was set to be in high demand this summer.
