Fabrizio Romano has revealed that David Raya was really excited about joining Tottenham earlier in the summer but Brentford’s unrelenting stance made the Lilywhites turn their attention to Guglielmo Vicario.
It was widely reported at the start of the summer that Raya was Tottenham’s top target to replace Hugo Lloris and that the North London club had even agreed personal terms with the 27-year-old (The Times).
(Photo by Aitor Alcalde – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
However, it emerged midway into June that Spurs were set to turn their attention to other alternatives, including Vicario, as Brentford were unwilling to drop their asking price of £40m for their number one, even though he had just a year left on his contract (90 min).
Spurs then quickly managed to wrap up a deal worth £16.4m for the Italian goalkeeper, with Empoli president Fabrizio Corsi later revealing that the Lilywhites beat ‘two top Italian clubs’ to the 26-year-old’s signature (Football Italia).
David Raya was really keen on Tottenham transfer
Romano has now explained that Raya came quite close to sealing a move to N17 and that the Spaniard was keen on making the switch before the deal collapsed.
The journalist told The Debrief Podcast: “David Raya was really close to Tottenham, the reality is that in terms of personal terms, it was agreed. Raya was prepared to make his move to Tottenham.
“He was really excited by that possibility and then Tottenham were not happy with the situation with Brentford, they were always asking for £40m for a player who was out of contract next summer, they were convinced they would reduce the asking price, but this didn’t happen.”
Spurs Web Opinion
While Raya was seemingly Tottenham’s top target, I suspect that the club were always also keeping an eye on the Vicario situation.
Once they saw that Brentford were happy for the situation to drag on and realised that Inter were planning an approach for the Empoli star, they wasted no time in swiftly concluding a deal for the Italian.
Have something to tell us about this article?
