Spurs confirm £17m arrival of Guglielmo Vicario after chat with Ange Postecoglou

The Italy international, who is set to usurp veteran keeper and skipper Hugo Lloris between the sticks, has signed a five-year deal with the north London club and will wear the No.13 shirt.

He has enjoyed two excellent campaigns in Serie A with Empoli, earning a call-up to the national team, and had been linked with a move to Inter had the defeated Champions League finalists cashed in on Andre Onana.

Vicario is the second signing Tottenham have made this summer, with the club also turning Dejan Kulusevski’s 18-month loan spell into a permanent move earlier this month.

The move for the 26-year-old goalkeeper was wrapped up in rapid fashion by Spurs after they grew frustrated with Brentford’s £40m valuation of David Raya.

Postecoglou spoke to Vicario in a video call last week and explained that he was his pick to wear the gloves for Tottenham going forward despite the links to Raya, with the Italian – who speaks English – excited to move to the Premier League.

Vicario’s father, Michele, told Messaggero Veneto on Tuesday: ‘A week ago, he had a video call with his new coach, Ange Postecoglou.

‘They spoke in English and the coach told him that he had chosen him because Guglielmo worked his way up just like him.

‘The coach was then impressed to see that the boy already knows English.’

He added: ‘In January, two other English clubs had come forward, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, but Empoli wanted to postpone everything until the summer.’

Asked if he would have preferred his son to stay in Italy, particularly amid links to Inter, AC Milan, Roma and others, Vicario senior replied: ‘No, we would not have preferred to see him continue playing in Italy.

‘My wife has always had a dream to go and study in England, then she had to make other choices. Seeing her son realise a dream that belonged to her is an unimaginable feeling of satisfaction.’

Tottenham are likely to have a very busy summer window and are now working to secure a deal for Leicester City midfielder James Maddison, while they have also received an offer from Bayern Munich for Harry Kane.

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