Tottenham admire PL rival goalkeeper with 9 clean sheets this season; might make summer move

Tottenham show interest in signing ‘this’ young goalkeeper.

There is a particular sort of administrative efficiency to the way Tottenham have handled the Guglielmo Vicario situation. Whilst the Italian has been recuperating from hernia surgery and attempting to recover in time to play some part in the season’s conclusion, the club has been quietly resolving his future without him needing to know the precise details.

Inter Milan, according to Sport Witness, have already reached a verbal agreement on personal terms with Vicario. Tottenham, having already internally decided in January to allow him to depart, are now simply waiting for the season to conclude and the paperwork to follow. That is, in the grand tradition of Tottenham transfers, an unusually organised approach to a situation they could otherwise have allowed to drift indefinitely.

Vicario was never the goalkeeper Tottenham required him to be. He arrived from Empoli in the summer of 2023 as a stylish, possession-comfortable shot-stopper whose distribution complemented Ange Postecoglou’s high-press, full-back-heavy attacking system. In his first season, he delivered some genuinely impressive individual performances alongside some genuinely alarming errors. In the current campaign, the errors have accumulated with greater frequency and less excuse. His command of crosses, routinely questioned, never convincingly improved. His kicking, whilst capable, was insufficiently precise to function as the additional outfield player that possession-dominant systems demand. And his defence of set plays…… Shambles.

Inter ID him as a replacement for Yann Sommer, whose contract situation remains unsettled. The fee remains expected to be in the region of £21m to £26m. That represents Tottenham recovering a reasonable proportion of their original £15m investment and the opportunity cost of not finding a better solution sooner. The net position is adequate. Nothing more.

Moving on?

Robin Roefs, the 23-year-old Dutchman who has spent this season established himself as arguably the Premier League’s most impressive goalkeeper, represents the intended replacement. He has made the second-most saves in the Premier League this season, behind only Martin Dubravka of already-relegated Burnley. Burnley conceded so many shots that their goalkeeper accumulated save statistics by necessity. Sunderland have not been a team under siege. They have been a coherently organised mid-table side. Roefs’ save count reflects quality.

Ten (9 in PL) clean sheets across all competitions, consistent distribution, and the kind of authoritative penalty area presence that Vicario occasionally surrendered at inopportune moments have made Roefs the most coveted goalkeeper in the division outside of those at genuinely elite clubs.

Manchester City and Chelsea have both shown interest, but here is where Tottenham’s pitch becomes, paradoxically, credible. Neither of those clubs can certainly offer Roefs a guaranteed starting position in the near term. City have already committed to a different goalkeeping structure. Chelsea have recently invested considerably in that department. Tottenham can surely offer him the number one jersey, an ambitious new manager with a coherent five-year vision, and a modern stadium that will host European football SHOULD the rebuilding project succeed. That package, however modest it might sound relative to City or Chelsea, is the kind of platform a 23-year-old goalkeeper building his career would legitimately find appealing.

Whether Sunderland sell depends partly on their own assessment of their ambitions. A club that has returned to the Premier League and performed with considerable credit this season may decide that releasing their best goalkeeper for any fee disrupts their own development trajectory. For now, the goalkeeping department is in transition. Vicario is leaving. Kinsky, underwhelming throughout the season, will also likely depart. Roefs is the target.