Tottenham Hotspur and new manager Ange Postecoglou raised plenty of eyebrows when they secured the 19 million Euro signing of former Empoli goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, as the 27 year old stopper was basically an unknown quantity in England, let alone the challenge that the Premier League provides.
He has hit the ground running at his new club though and has begun quickly winning fans around, and Spurs right now, look like that may have bagged themselves a bargain given the price they paid – even though many thought it was a massive risk.
From the Serie A perspective and those who knew the player well, he was a massive loss to the Italian game and there were undoubtedly plenty of top flight clubs who would have liked to have been able to add him to their playing squads.
One person who knows that to be true is his former manager at Cagliari and the man who gave him his professional debut, Leonardo Simplici, and personally he would have rather seen Vicario move to one of the top clubs in Italy.
“When I gave him his debut with Cagliari, Vicario’s qualities were already apparent. But I have to say that he surprised me too, obviously they were good to give him confidence at Empoli, to believe in him without giving weight to his potential mistakes. So he had a great run and earned this chance to go to the Premier League. I would have preferred to see him in an Italian team, but unfortunately the market is open in every sense. What matters is that he is enjoying his adventure in a great team like Tottenham, and I hope he can also continue. I am also pleased to see him in the orbit of the national team.”
Spurs had clearly done their homework on the player, as not only were they willing to risk 19 million Euros on a virtual unknown in English circles, they also offered him a contract that keeps him at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium until the summer of 2028 – it can only be viewed as a significant statement of confidence and belief in his abilities, not least as he was replacing stalwart and French World Cup winning goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
He will undoubtedly be part of Italy’s squad for next summers European Championships, and whilst he is yet to make his full debut for the national side, it really is only a matter of time before that happens – especially as he is now impressing in the Premier League.
