It was one of Tottenham’s first major summer reinforcements during the last summer transfer window. After a spectacular year at Empoli in Serie A, Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario (26 years old) left his bags at Spurs on June 27 by signing a 5-year contract with the Premier League team for an amount of 20 million with bonuses. During his presentation, the native of Udine in Italy was aware of the importance of his role in the collective system of the new coach of the London club Ange Postecoglou: “The coach, he told me that the goalkeeper was very important with his offensive mentality. It’s a position with great responsibility because if you fail, 99% of the time it’s a goal for the opponents. But I like this responsibility, I like saving, I like being in contact with grass”declared the Italian international goalkeeper.
And one thing is certain: The 26-year-old is good with the ball at his feet, especially in long throws. This might reassure some Spurs fans who have never been confident with Hugo Lloris who has always struggled with this aspect of his game despite always being a top goalkeeper in his position. Guglielmo Vicario is a modern goalkeeper par excellence, very comfortable with the ball at his feet. All his qualities pleased the management of Tottenham who quickly made him a summer priority in a summer marked by an important period of transition with the departure of legend Harry Kane for Bayern Munich. After four days of the English championship, Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham, still undefeated, is in 2nd position with three victories behind Manchester City.
Big performances marked with iron!
If his talent was already well known in Italy, England got to know the imperial Guglielmo Vicario on this afternoon of Saturday August 19, 2023, when his Tottenham team met Manchester United on the London lawn of Spurs, at during the 2nd day of the Premier League. A contribution to this victory (0-2) which impressed the Spurs staff and all English football experts more than ever with its total of 6 saves. The Spurs coach had already praised his new goalkeeper during the summer preparation: “it is fair to say that Guglielmo Vicario has integrated very well into the group. He’s a good guy and an exceptional goalkeeper.”, declared the Australian coach last July. At the start of the season, Guglielmo Vicario has saved +90% of all the shots on target he has conceded in the Premier League and has only conceded three goals from open play (excluding penalties and set pieces). No goalkeeper has conceded fewer in England.
On his Instagram account, Guglielmo Vicario sent a message to Tottenham fans, writing to thank them for this incredible start to the season, while it is never easy for Italian footballers to move abroad and perform immediately: “Ahead of the international break, I wanted to take a moment to thank the Spurs fans for their incredible welcome. New beginnings can be hard, you made it fun”. As a reminder, in the last two seasons, Guglielmo Vicario has made 249 saves, only Jeremías Ledesma of Cádiz (255) has a better total over this period in the five biggest European leagues. If Tottenham is digesting this transition so well, it is largely thanks to Vicario who mitigated the change in the team’s cages quite quickly, while the Frenchman Hugo Lloris was the captain of the team with 447 matches played under this jersey.
