Transfer: Perisic should be worried as £22m Udogie ace moves to Tottenham
It’s fitting that it was Destiny Udogie, just 24 seconds into Udinese’s 2-2 draw with Sassuolo last weekend, who scored the fastest goal of this Serie A season.
The Verona-born 20-year-old, after all, is a man who’s career seems to be stuck in fast-forward. Udogie only made his league debut as recently as 2020. He started playing regular first-team football in 2021. And, in August 2022, Tottenham Hotspur invested £22 million in the swashbuckling wing-back before he’d even left his teens.
“He is extraordinary,” beams Udinese coach Andrea Sottil (TMW). “He has to take care of the defensive phase, and sometimes try to play fast crosses into the middle without touching the ball too many times.
Udogie will become part of Spurs’ squad in the summer, when his loan spell at Udinese comes to an end. And the Italy U21 international should find himself in direct competition with a man 14 years his senior; Ivan Perisic.
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Now, Antonio Conte is a coach who often preferes experience over exuberance. When Inter Milan were chasing their first Scudetto in a decade, Conte brought in proven title-winning veterans in Ashley Young, Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez and Victor Moses, for instance. That 34-year-old Perisic became one of his first signings as Tottenham manager was, in many ways, typical of a coach who lives in the moment.
Meanwhile, the fate of Djed Spence in North London – farmed out to Rennes after just three minutes of Premier League football – may raise some concerns about Udogie’s own future. But, while there are certainly similarities between Spence and Udogie, not all situation is the same.
For perhaps the very first time, Perisic is starting to look his age. The former Borussia Dortmund flyer has not scored a single goal in Tottenham colours, and only has two assists in his last 16 Premier League outings. And with one of Europe’s best young wing-backs arriving – Udogie’s sights firmly fixed on Perisic’s place – the veteran Croatian could soon find himself in an unfamiliar position of glancing nervously over his own shoulder.
Spence might not have won Conte over but Udogie possesses so many of the attributes the former Chelsea boss looks for in a wing-back. Since the start of last season, Udogie has contributed 13 goals and assists to the Udinese cause; combining Perisic’s technical ability and versatility with the youth and speed of Ryan Sessegnon.
“A good prospect for Tottenham,” Conte tells Football London of Udogie; Tottenham having fought off competition from the Italian’s former employers Inter Milan and Juventus.
“A good investment for the club. When you are young, you need to play to improve your experience. For sure we are talking about a good prospect. But we are talking about a player for the future not for the present. He has to develop and to grow.”
Maintain his current rate of progress, however, and Udogie could go from ‘one to the future’ to ‘one for the present’ far quicker than expected. As Sassuolo found out only a few days ago, Udogie is a man in a rush.