Tottenham Hotspur are on the verge of completing their seventh summer signing after they agreed a fee with Serie A club Udinese for the transfer of 19-year-old left back Destiny Udogie .
Spurs have already signed Ivan Perisic to compete with Ryan Sessegnon at left wing-back this season, but Spurs boss Antonio Conte is said to be a huge fan of Udogie and is keen to have him in his plans next year, with the defender expected to return to Udinese on loan for the 2022-23 campaign.
Here is all you need to know about Udinese left back Destiny Udogie, including who he is, what he’s achieved so far and what’s been said about him.
Who is Destiny Udogie?
Destiny Udogie is an Italian left back who currently plies his trade with Serie A outfit Udinese, having only joined the club permanently this summer after having an option-to-buy clause triggered at the end of his loan spell last season.
Born on November 28, 2022, the 19-year-old came through the youth ranks of his hometown club Hellas Verona and made his first team breakthrough during the 2020-21 campaign, making six appearances in Serie A. He then joined Udinese on loan for the 2021-22 season, and heavily impressed with five goals and three assists in 35 league appearances.
On the international stage, he is an under-21 international for Italy, despite being of Nigerian descent, and has four caps to his name after making his debut in September 2021. Before that, he registered three goals in 29 appearances for the U16, U17, U18 and U19 sides.
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Career so far
Udogie recorded nine goals and five assists in 41 appearances for Hellas Verona’s youth teams after joining their ranks in 2017, as per transfermarkt, before breaking into the first team during the 2020-21 campaign when he made his Serie A debut in a 2-2 draw at AC Milan at the San Siro on November 8, 2020.
A further five appearances came that year, before he joined Udinese on a season-long loan deal with an obligation to buy last season, recording five goals and three assists in 37 games across all competitions as the Italian outfit finished 12th in Serie A and reached the last 16 of the Coppa Italia. His performances for Udinese resulted in strong interest from Spurs.
He made his debut for Italy U16’s during the 2018-19 campaign, before going on to score two goals in 15 games for the U17’s in the same season. In 2019-20, he broke into the U18 and U19 sides, but is now a fully fledged U21 international, having made his debut in a 3-0 victory over Luxembourg in a 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier.
What’s been said about him?
As per a report by The Athletic, Conte is a huge admirer of Udogie, while director of football Fabio Paratici is also known to have followed his career and was even interested in signing him for Juventus when Udogie was still at Verona. Gabriele Cioffi, who managed Udinese last season, described the player as “extraordinary” back in January.
When speaking of Tottenham ’s interest in Udogie last week, transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano said on his YouTube channel : “This full-back from Udinese, Italian player, really talented, fantastic last season in Serie A. He did a very good job playing in a 3-5-2 system. Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici are both big fans of this guy, he’s the future of the Italian national team.”
Udogie himself has also given an insight into what he can offer, when speaking to The Italian Football Podcast back in April. He said: "I love to attack, I love to attack. I have a very good physique, so I attack with my physique. Also with my feet I like to dribble, skill and some pace. I think these are my best qualities."
