Currently taking place in Rome, the TransferRoom conference has been a gathering point for media and agents, with the two crossing paths regularly and having chats, which is exactly what Stefano Antontelli, who oversees the affairs of Destiny Udogie at Tottenham, did with TuttoMercatoWeb.
The now 21-year-old was bought by Spurs from Udinese, but stayed there for a year before making the physical move, slotting immediately into Ange Postecoglou’s plans when he did.
Udogie also has two caps for Italy, and the Tottenham defender was called up by Luciano Spalletti for the current international break, where he will face Venezuela and Ecuador in friendlies.
One of the first things TuttoMercatoWeb point out to Antonelli is that Udogie, according to TransferRoom, is the Italian player under the age of 23 with the highest market value at this moment in time.
He replied: “He plays in the Premier League, which is the most important league in the world. He’s a starter at Tottenham at the age of 21, it’s normal that his price gets a certain value. I read that for TransferRoom, his price is worth €59m, a figure derived from algorithms… He’s an important player.
“Every day we’re in discussions and he knows that to be a protagonist in that league, you have to be at 110% from all points of view. It’s an extreme league, both in quality and physicality. There’s no press there to criticise you like in Italy, it’s true, it’s more focused on gossip, but you don’t win with Tottenham, it’s felt. There is pressure for them too, not winning is a problem. So far, he has played 24 games as a starter and is doing well.”
Those figures are just in the Premier League, with the FA Cup taking his tally to 26 appearances from the off for Tottenham, to which he has added two goals and three assists.
The defender has impressed greatly since being given the nod by Postecoglou, and with him being so young, there is a feeling there is a lot more to come.
