Inside Futbol

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Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio has been in London twice to meet Tottenham Hotspur executives and Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is ‘one step away’ from joining the Nerazzurri.

Vicario has been a target for the newly crowned Serie A champions for some time now as they plan to bring in a new number 1 in the summer.

Ausilio’s first visit to London took place in March, where groundwork regarding negotiations over Vicario was laid.

Inter have been progressing matters on the player’s side and recently reached an agreement over a draft contract.

The swoop appears to be going ahead as planned and, according to Italian outlet RadioRadio, Vicario is ‘one step away’ from Inter following two visits to London by Ausilio.

The Serie A side are keen to try to make Vicario their first signing of the approaching summer transfer window as they bid to solve their goalkeeping situation.

Vicario has been out of late for Tottenham due to a hernia problem, which has seen Antonin Kinsky step in for him.

League played in Serie A Serie B Serie C Serie D Premier League Leagues Guglielmo Vicario has played in

It is unclear if Roberto De Zerbi will put Vicario back into the team when he is available, especially given Spurs have now won back to back games.

In February it emerged that Vicario was keen to return to Italy with Inter, which would bring his Tottenham association to an end.

Vicario was key to Tottenham’s winning the Europa League trophy last year, managing a clean sheet against Manchester United in the final.

However, his form has not been up to the mark this season with one former Premier League star pointing to the lack of competition in the goalkeeping department as a concern.

Not everyone in Italy is convinced about Inter signing Vicario as their new number 1.

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Tottenham Hotspur legend Graham Roberts has talked up the impact that Rodrigo Bentancur has had since he returned to the side from injury.

The 28-year-old midfielder has endured a difficult campaign, due to a hamstring injury which forced him to miss 16 games, and limited him to just 23 appearances in the Premier League this season.

Spurs moved out of the relegation zone following a 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday and first-half goals from Conor Gallagher as well as Richarlison were enough for them to see off Unai Emery’s men.

Following his return from injury, Bentancur has been impressive for Spurs, playing 224 minutes across the last three matches, with De Zerbi still keeping an eye on his game time following his absence.

Spurs legend Roberts believes that the midfielder has made a big difference since his return from injury, helping contribute to the turnaround under De Zerbi.

The ex-Tottenham man is impressed with the midfield trio of Bentancur, Conor Gallagher and Joao Palhinha in general, while he also noted that Randal Kolo Muani has stepped up.

Roberts wrote on X: “Bentancur has made such a difference to the team he has suffered terrible injuries but so so important for us.

Club Years Boca Juniors 2015-2017 Juventus 2017-2022 Tottenham Hotspur 2022- Rodrigo Bentancur’s career history

“That midfield 3 are proper men and that’s what we need now in this period.

“Muani did great too.”

Spurs are currently 17th in the league table on 37 points, just one point above the relegation zone, and are locked in a survival battle with Nottingham Forest and West Ham United.

The Lilywhites have parted ways with two managers this season, Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor, and appointed Roberto De Zerbi to secure Premier League survival, and an ex-Spurs boss believes the Italian head coach could become a ‘hero’ if he manages to avoid the drop.

Under De Zerbi, Spurs are unbeaten in the last three Premier League games, a brilliant turn in form, after they failed to win a single game in the calendar year before he arrived at the club.

Spurs will host Leeds United next at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 11th May, and then travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on 19th May, before ending the season at home against Everton on 24th May.

De Zerbi will be keen to keep Bentancur fit throughout Spurs’ remaining games as he plays a key role in their survival fight.

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi is wary of his side’s next opponents, Leeds United, who he feels have been playing well of late and are ‘deserving’ of where they are in the table.

Spurs have moved out of the Premier League relegation zone after a 2-1 win against Aston Villa, and have secured consecutive league victories for the first time since August.

Conor Gallagher opened the scoring in the 12th minute and Richarlison doubled the lead in the 25th minute which proved enough to take all three points and move Tottenham a point clear of the relegation zone.

De Zerbi’s side cannot afford to let up and are due to welcome Leeds to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next up.

Leeds recorded a comfortable 3-1 victory over Burnley in their most recent Premier League outing, with Anton Stach, Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all finding the back of the net.

De Zerbi has taken note of how Leeds have been playing under Daniel Farke of late and is expecting a tough clash.

Despite sitting on 43 points, Leeds are not yet mathematically sure of avoiding the drop and securing at least a point at Tottenham would help.

Result Competition Leeds United 1-2 Tottenham Premier League Leeds United 1-4 Tottenham Premier League Tottenham 4-3 Leeds United Premier League Last three Leeds United-Tottenham meetings

The Tottenham manager is not getting carried away about pulling out of the relegation zone and wants the focus to instantly go on to Leeds, who he thinks fully deserve to be where they are in the table.

Asked about how he feels with Spurs going out of the drop zone, De Zerbi told TNT Sports: “Nothing because the season is not finished yet.

“We have to play another three games, starting on Monday night with Leeds.

“Leeds are playing very well. They are deserving of staying in this position in the table.

“We can’t forget what the situation was before Wolverhampton.

“It was a very sad situation and these memories have to stay in our heads every day, especially in this week, after this win.”

Leeds have won three of their last five Premier League games and also managed to reach the semi-final stage of the FA Cup before being knocked out, in what has been a superb campaign so far for the Yorkshire giants.

The earlier meeting between the two teams this season saw Tottenham visit Elland Road and come away with a 2-1 win.

Spurs also have a good recent record against the Whites, having won each of the past five meetings and, with their upturn under De Zerbi, will likely start as favourites to make it six.

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Roberto De Zerbi has slammed the negativity around the club, dubbing it rubbish ahead of a crucial fixture against Aston Villa on Sunday.

Spurs finally earned a win in 2026 last week at Wolves, but the victory came at the cost of injuries to Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke as Tottenham’s injury list stretched further.

The injuries, with West Ham United also winning, led to media focus being turned to questioning Spurs’ medical staff and pitches, rather than remaining on the positive result.

De Zerbi asked everyone associated with the club to ‘silence the voice inside of us’ as the voice can lead to ‘negative thoughts’ that say ‘we are unlucky, we have too many injuries’.

The Spurs manager slammed negative lines of thinking, dubbing it ‘rubbish’, and instead chose to focus on positive aspects such as the quality of the Spurs players.

De Zerbi said in a press conference: “Listen, I want to be clear one time.

“The most important challenge now is to silence the voice inside of us, inside of the players, the staff, the fans.

“This voice produce negative thoughts and the voice says we are unlucky, we have too many injuries.

“We lost Xavi Simons and he was one of the most important players for us in the past two games.

“Our medical staff is not good enough, our stadium pitch is not good enough, our training pitch is not good enough.

“Winning two or three games in a row no because we hadn’t won a game in 2026.

“It’s all negative things and it’s rubbish.

“I want to keep the focus on myself and the quality of my players.”

De Zerbi also feels that it will not be ‘a miracle’ if Spurs win at Villa Park, as he called the Lilywhites a ‘big club’ while acknowledging that Aston Villa are ‘one of the best teams’ in the division.

“We go to play one of the best teams in the Premier League at the moment but if Tottenham win at Villa Park it’s not a miracle.

“Maybe we lose but we have the quality to win this game.

“We have to be positive because we are lucky to work in a big club.”

Tottenham are in the last chance saloon, with former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp feeling that De Zerbi would earn hero status if he could stave off relegation.

De Zerbi himself feels that the Spurs squad have bought into his methods, an idea that has been reinforced by Marseille defender Facundo Medina’s claims that he was hurt by the departure of the manager.

Tottenham fans might be hoping that Villa’s loss to Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-first leg proves to be beneficial to their cause, as Unai Emery plots to overturn the deficit next week.

De Zerbi though, true to his words, is likely to focus on himself and his squad, irrespective of the line-up Emery chooses to put out on Sunday.

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Inter Milan have agreed draft personal terms with Tottenham Hotspur custodian Guglielmo Vicario, but the Serie A giants are also considering promoting Josep Martinez as their number 1 next season.

The San Siro giants are looking to bring in a quality custodian next term ahead of the expected exit of experienced goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

Inter Milan have identified options and Tottenham’s Vicario has been the clear front-runner to arrive in Italy.

Cristian Civu’s side had a look at Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez, but Vicario has been chosen as the preferred target over the Argentine due to his lower wage demands.

Inter Milan have even started to lay the groundwork on a swoop for Vicario, led by Inter Milan’s sporting director Piero Ausilio, who headed to England for talks.

Moving for the Tottenham man has not pleased everyone associated with Inter Milan though.

One former Italy goalkeeper suggested the Nerazzurri go for other options rather than Vicario, who he believes is not the best available option around.

The Serie A table-toppers, though, are pushing ahead and have now have a ‘draft agreement’ with Vicario, according to Italian journalist Maurizio Russo.

Goalkeeper Age Josep Martinez 27 Yann Sommer 37 Raffaele Di Gennaro 32 Inter Milan’s goalkeepers

However, other options are still open for the Nerazzurri, who are evaluating whether they will promote Martinez as their first choice next season.

The former Barcelona youth product has been at Inter Milan for almost two years now, having played only 18 times across all competitions.

The 27-year-old Spaniard has clubs from La Liga and Serie A keen on him and if a positive decision is made on him, Vicario could need to look for a new destination.

It could just be though that Inter Milan want an alternative ready in the event they cannot agree a deal with Tottenham.

They have also looked at Cagliari’s Elia Caprile, who is on Premier League club Aston Villa’s radar for the summer transfer window.

Whether Vicario will go back to Italy when this current season ends remains to be seen and he is now working to return following hernia surgery to help the north Londoners stay safe in the top flight.