Tottenham Hotspur may be forced to make a shock move in the January window that would not have been part of their pre-season planning.
A fairly mixed start to the Premier League season sees the north London club in sixth, but with a number of teams in touching distance above them.
Not then, perhaps, the time for any knee-jerk moves, but recent injury news means Ange Postecoglou’s side may be forced to make a headline change to their starting squad.
Tottenham may be forced to replace goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario in January
It has been revealed that Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has just undergone surgery to repair a fractured ankle.
The Italy international was hurt in a challenge with Savinho in Spurs’ resounding 4-0 win against Manchester City at the Etihad, and was still complaining about being in pain following the final whistle. It later transpired that he had been playing for around an hour with the fracture.
It will likely leave Spurs hunting for a replacement gloveman, with Vicario out for months rather than weeks, and the club having already been considering bolstering their goalkeeping ranks in the summer, according to the Telegraph.
Postecoglou will need to rely on Fraser Forster, but thankfully the 36-year-old shouldn’t be as rusty as some back-up goalkeepers may be, having appeared three times already this season; twice in the Europa League and once in Carabao Cup against Coventry City.
The Tottenham boss will not, however, have intended to rest his entire season on the shoulders of Forster, and will likely want to enter the market in January.
In a statement on Instagram, Vicario said: “Unfortunately, there was no way around this one. I needed surgery. I’m disappointed I won’t be able to help the team for a while.”
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Tottenham will need to go all out in January to sign a new goalkeeper, especially with their summer plans revealing they already felt light in the area.
January signings are never cheap, with the need to pay a premium to disrupt another side’s squad planning. The very public knowledge of Spurs’ quite desperate situation will only aggravate that, but we all know how much Daniel Levy loves driving a hard bargain.