For Tottenham Hotspur, this January transfer window has been notable for signing keepers out of nowhere who could challenge the incumbency of the players already there. For the men’s team it was the signing of Antonin “Tonda” Kinsky, who has already played two matches and kept clean sheets in both of them, effectively supplanting Fraser Forster.
And now we may have something similar with Spurs Women. Today, the club announced the signing of Dutch international keeper Lize Kop from Leicester City on a deal that will run through 2028.
Kop. 26, was a standout keeper in the Eredivisie with Ajax and has performed pretty well in limited matches on a pretty bad Leicester side the past season and a half. She’s the No. 2 for Leicester behind Janina Leitzig and also the No.2 for the Netherlands national team with 13 caps. She will wear the No. 1 shirt at Spurs... which some will view as a statement of intent.
Tottenham have been searching for genuine competition for, and eventual replacement of, Becky Spencer for a while now. Spencer has been a Tottenham stalwart between the sticks for years now and is one of the longest tenured players at the club, but she’s 33 now and it’s time Spurs look to sign someone who can eventually take over. That person might be Kop.
Genuine competition is good, and Spurs Women should now be happy with their keeper corps with Spencer, Kop, and Eleanor Heeps as their options. We might get more of a sense of the lay of the land when Spurs Women play their first match in over a month this weekend against Leicester — there’s every chance Kop could make her Spurs debut against her old club.
Welcome to Tottenham, Lize!