Confusion continues to swirl around Guglielmo Vicario’s Tottenham future, with conflicting explanations emerging over why the goalkeeper sat out the club’s pre-season tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Vicario is seen as one of several senior players who could depart Spurs this summer as Roberto De Zerbi reshapes his squad. With Antonín Kinský touted to take over as first-choice keeper and Martin Dúbravka brought in for added competition, where the Italian fits into the club’s plans going forward is far from settled. His absence from the touring squad raised eyebrows as soon as it was announced, with Tottenham stating he’d stayed back at Hotspur Way for treatment on a minor injury.
That explanation didn’t go unchallenged for long. Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano suggested the real reason had nothing to do with injury, claiming Vicario stayed behind because he was pushing for a move away from the club.
New reporting now complicates that narrative further. The Times’ Tom Allnutt claims the injury explanation was accurate all along, reporting that Vicario picked up an ankle sprain during a gym session last week, prompting Tottenham’s medical team and De Zerbi to hold him back from travelling. Allnutt notes that while his long-term future remains up in the air, the injury itself has nothing to do with any transfer talk, and that his recovery is going smoothly enough that he could rejoin the group once they’re back from the tour.
Even with the injury question settled, the uncertainty over where he’ll be playing next season hasn’t gone away. Juventus had been seen as front-runners for the former Empoli shot-stopper, but reports out of Italy suggest the Turin club are struggling to match Tottenham’s asking price and may need player sales to fund a bid.
That’s reportedly opened the door for Napoli, who are said to be watching the situation closely and could rival Juventus for his signature if Spurs decide to let him go before the window shuts.
With Italian interest building and the reporting around his absence still contradictory, Vicario’s situation remains one of the more closely followed transfer stories at Tottenham heading into the new season.
