Empoli boss Paolo Zanetti has claimed that new signing Guglielmo Vicario could use Tottenham Hotspur as a stepping stone club.
Spurs brought in new goalkeeper Vicario for £17million from Serie A side Empoli to replace captain Hugo Lloris, who has admitted he wants to leave the north London club this summer. The 26-year-old established himself as one of the best keepers in the Italian top-flight last season, earning a place in Roberto Mancini's Italy squad for the Nations League last month.
But Zanetti has admitted that he doesn't see the shot-stopper's long-term future in N17. "Vicario is ready for a big deal, he would have been the perfect goalkeeper for Inter," his former manager told Sky Italia.
"He is extremely talented and also has immense human qualities. In my opinion, Tottenham will not be a point of arrival for him, but a starting point."
Of course, Tottenham will hope that Zanetti's prediction is wrong and that Vicario can be their starting goalkeeper for a similar amount of time as the aforementioned Lloris was, with the Frenchman making 447 appearances for the Lillywhites across the last 11 seasons. And new Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou believes that the north London club's new keeper has exactly what it takes to succeed under his stewardship.
"It's not just about the talent they bring as footballers. It's what they bring as people as well because we are going to play football that requires a certain type of personality and character," said the 57-year-old when asked why he signed Vicario and playmaker James Maddison.
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"Both those guys have got it in abundance. I could hear it in their voices when I spoke to them. I had a couple of chats with both of them before we signed them and I knew that they were the right types to bring into the dressing room.
"Part of the driver is that if I can see that in them this is their preferred destination for the right reasons, that's enormous. I could sense with both of those guys that that was the case."
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