New Tottenham Hotspur signing Antonin Kinsky has revealed who was the biggest influence behind him joining the club.
Spurs announced the £12.5m (per Sky Sports) signing of Czech goalkeeper Kinsky on Sunday after a breakthrough start to the current campaign with Slavia Prague.
The 21-year-old — capped 21 times for the Czech Republic across various youth levels — played 29 times across Champions League Qualifying, Europa League and domestic league combined, keeping 14 clean sheets and conceding just 18 goals.
Kinsky’s form has helped Slavia Prague sit top of the table with just one defeat from their opening 19 games, seven points clear of closest challengers Viktoria Plzen.
Antonin Kinsky joins Tottenham Hotspur
Kinsky had only made one senior appearance for Slavia before the start of this season, with the majority of his football coming out on loan.
However, he’s still done enough to convince Spurs to pay big money to future-proof their goalkeeper position — while he may see minutes earlier than he expects with Guglielmo Vicario injured and Fraser Forster ill.
Despite the allure of the Premier League and a club like Spurs, Kinsky has revealed he still made sure to talk the decision out with his father, who was also a professional goalkeeper.
“I’ve been playing in the Czech Republic so far. Most recently for Slavia, I would say we had a good first half of the season but then this offer came,” he said (via Tottenham’s official website). “As I said, I felt this is going to be a good decision, so I decided to go and I’m really happy.
“My dad is a former goalkeeper as well. He played for the Czech National Team, in the Czech First League and abroad as well.
“He’s been a big role model for me since the beginning so, with every decision I make, I talk about it with him and he told me, of course, that this is a big thing, a big decision and a big chance. He told me to go for this as well, so I am really happy to have this positive opinion.”