"Tottenham will forever have a special place in my heart." Guglielmo Vicario didn't leave Spurs quietly — he posted an Instagram message that read like a player who genuinely meant it, and the fans who watched him make that header stop in Bilbao will feel the same way.
The 29-year-old completed his loan move to Juventus on Tuesday, with the Turin club holding an option to sign him permanently for £8.5 million. It's a tidy exit fee for a goalkeeper who arrived from Empoli in summer 2023 and quietly became one of the more reliable No.1s in the division.
What Spurs are actually losing
117 appearances. A Europa League winner's medal. And that save — the late stop to deny Luke Shaw's header in the Bilbao Final that helped Tottenham lift the trophy. That's not a career footnote; that's the defining moment of the club's recent history.
Vicario also gets his childhood dream in Turin, following in the footsteps of his idol Gianluigi Buffon at the same club. Juventus only turned to him after Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez proved unattainable — not the most flattering recruitment story — but Vicario lands at a club that matters to him personally, and that counts for something.
For Spurs, the timing matters. Tottenham now head into Roberto De Zerbi's first full season without their first-choice goalkeeper. De Zerbi's style demands composure and distribution from the back — exactly the kind of profile Vicario provided. Whoever steps into that shirt carries real weight from day one, and Spurs' defensive odds reflect a team still finding its shape under a new manager.
Vicario's parting words
"Winning the Europa League, together, and seeing the joy we gave our fans is a memory that will never fade away," Vicario wrote. He also offered Spurs his best wishes for what he called "a very exciting season ahead" under De Zerbi.
Whether the season lives up to that billing depends heavily on who's standing between the posts come August.
