Tottenham Hotspur Signs Empoli Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Tottenham Hotspur officially signed goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli on Tuesday, for a reported transfer fee of 16 million pounds.

"We are pleased to announce the signing of Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli, who is just waiting for international clearance and a work permit," Spurs announced as quoted by Antara, Wednesday, June 28.

The Italy international is contracted to Spurs until 2028, and will wear the number 13 shirt.

Vicario is expected to compete with Spurs captain Hugo Lloris, who is entering the final 12 months of his contract, to become Ange Postecoglou's first-choice keeper.

The player who was born in Udine spent the early days of his football career with Bearzi, then joined the Udinese youth team in August 2013. He was then loaned to Fontanafredda in the 2014/2015 season, where Vicario made a total of 30 appearances.

After that Vicario moved to Venezia in August 2015 and made 89 appearances in all competitions for the club, while keeping 28 clean sheets. In 2016/2017, he helped the club get promoted to Serie B, while winning the Coppa Italia Lega Pro.

After four seasons at Venezia, he joined Cagliari in July 2019 before being loaned to Perugia.

The keeper then returned to Cagliari to make his Serie A debut in April 2021, and after making seven appearances for the club, he joined Empoli on loan in July 2021.

The loan then resulted in permanent recruitment a year later.

While defending Empoli, Vicario made a total of 71 appearances in all competitions. His fine performances earned him a first call-up to the national team in September 2022, ahead of Italy's final game in the UEFA Nations League.

Vicario is Spurs' second signing of the transfer market this time, after they made the permanent move of Dejan Kulusevski who was previously on loan from Juventus.