Empoli president Fabrizio Corsi has revealed that three other Premier League clubs apart from Tottenham Hotspur showed interest in signing Guglielmo Vicario this summer.
Coming into the transfer window, signing a replacement for Hugo Lloris was one of Tottenham’s top priorities.
The North London club has wasted no time in securing a young, up-and-coming goalkeeper in Vicario, who has emerged as one of the Serie A’s best shot-stoppers since his move to Empoli two years ago.
It was reported by 90 min last week that the 26-year-old was also on the radars of the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus this summer, and Corsi has now admitted that apart from big Italian clubs, multiple English sides also showed interest in the player.
Three Premier League rivals looked at Vicario
The Empoli president told Football Italia: “I had never mentioned Tottenham’s interest in my previous interviews, but they had been interested for a long time, along with other three Premier League clubs and at least two top Italian clubs.”
In fact, it was explained by some outlets (Football.London) that one of the reasons Tottenham moved swiftly for Vicario was because of the possibility of Inter swooping for the goalkeeper if Andre Onana departed.
Corsi has now explained that some Italian clubs were waiting to offload players to raise the necessary funds to move for the former Empoli man, which allowed Tottenham the opportunity to pounce on the goalkeeper.
He added: “The Italian and English markets are very different. Premier League clubs have already started to sign new players, in Italy we are waiting for sales before making new purchases.
“Vicario did great things at Empoli, so, of course, there was a lot of interest. Nowadays there are stats to assess players’ performances and he had impressive figures.
“Vicario is first and foremost a great person and when he left he saluted everyone with great affection here at Empoli, both at the club and in the city.
“From now on, when I turn on the TV, I’ll first watch Empoli games and then Tottenham.”
Spurs Web Opinion
There is no doubt Brentford would have lowered their asking price for Raya as we got deeper into the transfer window, given that the Spaniard has just one year left on his contract.
However, the fact that Tottenham were not willing to wait for that to happen, suggests that Vicario’s case was being pushed heavily by some at the club (potentially Gabbanini) and the Lilywhites were concerned about other clubs swooping for the Italian goalkeeper.
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