We already know the odds are extremely high that Guglielmo Vicario will not be wearing a Tottenham Hotspur keeper kit when the summer transfer window closes. We’re getting more dribbles of info that it’s actually quite likely that he’ll be wearing a Juventus shirt instead.
Calciomercato is reporting that Vicario tops a list of potential summer goalkeeper signings for the Old Lady, but that Spurs value Googly Elmo at €20m, a figure that is causing Juventus to swallow hard. That doesn’t seem like a lot of money, but that’s only in the context of the Premier League’s insane financial headway over the rest of the European leagues. You won’t see Juventus shelling out £86m for a player anytime soon, or if you do it’s likely to be followed by an investigation and possibly financial malfeasance charges.
There is, however, a possibility expressed in this article — a loan-to-buy. Calciomercato suggests Juventus would be open to a loan of Vicario with a purchase option at the end of next season, presumably to give Juventus a year to come up with the funds, or alternately try and negotiate Spurs down to a more reasonable fee next summer.
That’d be okay with me. It’s clear Vicario isn’t in Roberto De Zerbi’s plans, considering he’s already elevated Antonin Kinsky to the top spot and has signed Martin Dubravka to back him up. Having Vicario stick around would be AWK-ward, so I fully expect him to leave this summer, whether it’s to Juventus or somewhere else in Italy.
The possibility of a loan doesn’t bother me. A purchase obligation would be better than an option, and it’s unlikely we’ll get our full valuation out of Elmo’s eventual sale, but that’s okay. He needs to go. He wants to go. And if a loan is the best way to facilitate that, then that’s fine with me too.