Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League • England
Signing number seven puts pen-to-paper at Tottenham but fans face lengthy wait to see £15m man
Tottenham have completed the £15million signing of Destiny Udogie from Udinese but the wing-back has immediately been loaned back to his old club.
The teenage defender has been tracked by Spurs all summer and has signed a five-year deal with the Premier League side after initially flying into England over the weekend.
Udogie, who made 35 appearances for Udinese last season but sat out their opener with AC Milan on Saturday, stayed at Hotspur Way on Sunday before he completed a medical on Monday and finalised his transfer a day later.
He is Tottenham’s seventh signing of the summer. However, the talented left-back has returned to Italy in a similar fashion to Pape Matar Sarr, who joined Spurs last August but spent the 2021-22 campaign on loan with Metz.
Udogie came through Hellas Verona’s academy system before Udinese signed the Italy Under-21 international on loan last season.
He became a regular in Serie A last season, scoring five goals for Udinese.
The £15m fee could rise by a further £3m due to add-ons, but it’s understood Tottenham will not start paying Udinese a fee until the summer of 2024.
At this stage, it’s unclear whether Udogie will be Spurs’ last signing of a busy summer so far.
They have already brought in Fraser Forster, Djed Spence, Clement Lenglet, Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma and Richarlison.
Two more positions still on Conte radar
The club continue to be linked to bringing in a playmaker and potentially another centre-back.
Introducing our seventh summer signing… 🔥 pic.twitter.com/X4nwdESMQr
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 16, 2022
Giovani Lo Celso has already headed back to Spain, while Tanguy Ndombele is seemingly Italy bound.
Conte remains interested in bringing Roma’s Nicolo Zaniolo to north London. However, Jose Mourinho’s presence in Rome appears to be making that transfer a non-starter.
Defensively, loan signing Clement Lenglet has suffered a slight knock and could be missing again this weekend. And with Japhet Tanganga and Davinson Sanchez both linked to AC Milan, another body could still come in.
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