Destiny Udogie has returned to Tottenham Hotspur this summer excited to be a part of Ange Postecoglou’s attacking side.

Udogie was signed for £15million ($19.6m) plus add-ons last summer from Udinese but immediately loaned back to the Italian club. After another successful season in Serie A where he contributed three goals and four assists (following on from five and three the previous campaign), the 20-year-old is ready to provide the attacking thrust for Postecoglou from left-back. His headed goal in Tuesday’s 3-2 friendly defeat to West Ham was a good way to start.

“We’re going to play good football,” says Udogie, speaking to a small group of reporters in Perth while on Spurs’ pre-season tour, which starts in Australia.

When asked if the team would be dull to watch, as was the case for so much of last season, he responded, “No, no, no”.

It would be tempting to think, ‘Well of course he would say that’, but Udogie (pronounced ooh-doggy) feels symbolic of how Postecoglou’s Spurs are going to play. He idolised the extremely forward-thinking left-back Marcelo growing up and has played the vast majority of his career playing as an attacking wing-back with three centre-backs behind him. Now, he is going to be asked to play as a left-back in a back four, competing with Ben Davies, Ryan Sessegnon and possibly Ivan Perisic and Sergio Reguilon for the position.

Having such an attacking left-back is an exciting proposition, as Tottenham fans got a glimpse of against West Ham. Udogie made a number of enterprising bursts forward and looked comfortable inverting into central areas, as Postecoglou demands from his full-backs. Postecoglou mentioned afterwards that he was pleased with Udogie’s performance.

“I think left wing-back you are more free to attack, you have more space to attack,” Udogie, an Italy under-21 international who played at this summer’s Euros, says of the difference between the two roles. “Obviously, you play full width (as a wing-back) so it’s different.

“But I’m good because when I started I was a left-back. So it’s not a problem for me. I know how to play it and it’s normal.

“I like his (Postecoglou’s) idea of football. He wants to play football with the ball, wants to have the ball. It’s not like I defend and I counter-attack.”

The fact that Udogie so looked up to the former Brazil and Real Madrid full-back Marcelo, who spent far more time attacking than defending, gives you an indication of how the Italian likes to play.

“I have to say I liked Marcelo,” Udogie says. “I used to watch Marcelo a lot. Marcelo, Alex Sandro. I love the way Marcelo played football, it was so clean, you know, technique, the style, everything,

“I like to attack, to overlap the winger, to cut inside, to come inside driving the ball, different things.”

On the chance to link up with Son Heung-min on Spurs’ left flank, Udogie says: “Obviously he’s a very good player. I’m very excited to play with him, to assist him.”

The Tottenham that Udogie returns to is very different from the club that signed him. Gone are his compatriots Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici, as is European football.

Udogie kept abreast of the team’s fortunes last season by watching every game he could. He’s been helped since properly arriving at the club over the last few weeks by the senior players welcoming him into the fold. “All the team are really good guys. H (Harry Kane), (Pierre-Emile) Hojbjerg, (Eric) Dier, very good guys.”

It also helps that Spurs have signed compatriot Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli this summer. “I’m lucky there is an Italian guy with me,” Udogie says, smiling.

Udogie seems very comfortable in his new surroundings, helped by the fact that English was the language spoken at home growing up. His parents Franklin and Kate are both Nigerian, and Udogie’s first name Iyenoma, appropriately enough, means “good news”.

When not playing football, Udogie’s main interests are the NBA and tennis. His favourite tennis player is Novak Djokovic, and the time difference in Australia meant he stayed up late watching Djokovic’s Wimbledon final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday night.

His main focus though is on acclimatising to life in the Premier League, and helping Spurs recover after last season’s dismal campaign. Udogie feels confident things will be different this time around: “We have a very good team and I feel like this is going to be a good season for us.”

Udogie was speaking at a Tottenham Hotspur Global Football Development session with beneficiaries from Telethon, one of the largest charities in WA that raises funds to deliver programmes for sick, vulnerable, and disadvantaged children.