Destiny Udogie has cemented his place at Tottenham Hotspur since arriving at the club last summer.
The 21-year-old has been the first-choice left-back under Ange Postecoglou this season, managing two goals and three assists from 27 league games. His fine displays for Spurs saw him make his debut for Italy last October.
TuttoMercatoWeb had a chat with the Tottenham star’s agent, Stefano Antonelli, who has explained how Fabio Paratici helped the Premier League side leave Italian clubs behind to sign the defender.
Spurs initially agreed a deal with Udinese for the player’s transfer in 2022 and sent him back on loan to the Serie A side last season.
Paratici was then in charge of the north London club’s transfer business and had to step down from his post at Tottenham in April 2023, after his appeal against the worldwide ban imposed by FIFA was rejected.
TMW asked Antonelli if there are any ‘regrets’ for the Italian clubs who lost out on Udogie to the English club.
Responding to that, he said: “Football is made up of moments. At that moment, Paratici was very good at removing him from the market and then leaving him on loan to Udinese. He didn’t leave him for Juventus or Inter.
“If another year had passed, I’m sure Inter or Juventus would have signed him, but that wasn’t the time for them to spend the €25m that Tottenham paid.”
In December, Tottenham rewarded Udogie’s impressive debut season with a new deal until 2030. That would make it difficult for him to return to Italy in the near future.
“I don’t think there are any longer the conditions, the economic and technical space, to return to Italy. This is the situation today,” Antonelli explained.
