Guglielmo Vicario’s father expressed his excitement over his son’s move to the Premier League and, in a recent interview, has revealed why coach Ange Postecoglue chose the Empoli stopper to be his no.1, despite interest from a host of other teams in England.
Vicario is set to officially join Tottenham in a €20m move in the coming days, leaving Empoli, where he has spent the last two seasons, the first on loan before joining permanently in the summer of 2022.
The 26-year-old has impressed increasingly over that period, being dubbed as Italy’s most underrated ‘keeper in recent months.
Now, Vicario is just a few formalities away from being unveiled as a Spurs player for the first time, and will become Postecoglou’s first signing of his reign in North London.
Speaking to Messaggero Veneto, Michele Vicario revealed why Postecolglou was so impressed with his son.
“A week ago, he had a video call with his new coach, Ange Postecoglou,” he said. “They spoke in English and the coach told him that he had chosen him because Guglielmo worked his way up just like him. The coach was then impressed to see that the boy already knows English.”
“In January, two other English clubs had come forward, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, but Empoli wanted to postpone everything until the summer.”
Asked whether he would have preferred his son to stay in Italy, Michele replied: “No, we would not have preferred to see him continue playing in Italy. My wife has always had a dream to go and study in England, then she had to make other choices.
“Seeing her son realise a dream that belonged to her is an unimaginable feeling of satisfaction.”
He continued: “His professionalism has always been high, let’s say that his personality has come out recently.”
Vicario’s move comes with an enormous benefit for his parents, who will now be able to take a step back from their working lives. “My wife, like me, will retire. Let’s just say we’ll have more free time at our disposal,” his father revealed.