Why Tottenham Are Looking at Guglielmo Vicario Replacements — and Who Are the Candidates?

Tottenham Hotspur are understood to be scouting possible replacements for Guglielmo Vicario, but why?

Vicario, who is Italy’s second-choice goalkeeper behind Yashin Trophy winner Gianluigi Donnarumma, has been a Spurs player since June 2023.

During that time, he has started in 73 of Tottenham’s 87 Premier League games, conceding 108 goals and keeping 15 clean sheets.

Vicario was named as a member of the Spurs leadership group under former manager Ange Postecoglou, along with Son Heung-min, Cristian Romero and James Maddison. He is still in the leadership group following the change of management, with Thomas Frank having also added Ben Davies and Micky van de Ven following Son’s summer exit.

Despite his unquestionable importance to the team, the general consensus among Spurs supporters — and seemingly among their decision-makers too — is that Vicario is Mr Right Now but perhaps not Mr Right.

Are Spurs better with Guglielmo Vicario or without him?

Over the past two and a half seasons, Tottenham’s record in games that Guglielmo Vicario has missed has been appalling.

With him in the team, they have taken an average of 1.67 points per Premier League game, conceding 1.48 goals per game.

In the 14 Premier League matches Vicario has missed since the start of the 2023/24 season, Spurs have taken just eight points — an average of 0.57 per game — and conceded 28.

Tottenham’s Premier League record with Guglielmo Vicario vs without him

The stats above highlight how important Vicario has been to Spurs since his arrival. However, they are slightly skewed by the small sample size of matches he has missed.

It is also worth noting that two of the games Vicario missed at the end of the 2024/25 season coincided with Ange Postecoglou making wholesale changes to his team, resting almost his entire first-choice XI in anticipation of important Europa League fixtures.

Another — but still imperfect — way of assessing Vicario’s impact would be to compare his Premier League record with that of Hugo Lloris in his final two seasons at Spurs.

During that period, Lloris played in 63 Premier League matches, conceding 80 times at an average of 1.27 goals per game. With Lloris in goal, Spurs averaged 1.79 points per game.

That shows that although Vicario has been badly missed when unavailable, Spurs are actually conceding more and winning less since he replaced Lloris as the No 1 in N17.

What is Guglielmo Vicario good at?

Vicario is undoubtedly one of the sharpest shot-stoppers in the Premier League. That is backed up by the fact that he has saved 37 of the 48 shots on target he has faced so far this season.

Those numbers give Vicario a save percentage of 77.3%, currently bettered only by Sunderland’s Robin Roefs (79.2%) and Man City No 1 Donnarumma (77.8%).

Best save percentages in Premier League 2025/26

Meanwhile, Vicario has so far conceded 3.7 goals fewer than the expected figure calculated by xG boffins.

The only Premier League goalkeeper currently outperforming their xG by a greater margin is Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson, who has let in 3.9 fewer goals than his projection.

What are Guglielmo Vicario’s weaknesses?

While Vicario is among the Premier League’s best when it comes to saving shots, he is near the bottom of the rankings when it comes to dealing with crosses.

This is more important than ever in an era where set-pieces — including long throw-ins — are very much back in fashion.

Multiple opponents have begun targeting Vicario at set-pieces, encouraged by his apparent lack of confidence when catching crosses in crowded areas.

And the numbers back that up. A total of 134 crosses have been delivered into the Spurs box so far this season, and Vicario has successfully stopped just five of them.

Of course, many crosses will have been dealt with by defenders, but Vicario’s cross-stop percentage of 3.7% is lower than 21 of the 25 goalkeepers who have played in the Premier League this season.

Another weakness is his ability with the ball at his feet. He is not as composed as most elite modern keepers — an issue when high pressing and playing out from the back are fundamental parts of the current game model.

Who might Spurs sign to replace Guglielmo Vicario?

Marc-Andre ter Stegen recently emerged as a possible candidate to replace Vicario at Tottenham, with reports suggesting he could be available on loan in January.

Spurs were also previously very interested in James Trafford before he left Burnley to return to Manchester City. Although Trafford has only been back at City for around four months, there are rumours he is already unsettled.

Trafford had hoped to claim the No 1 spot at City but, despite starting the first three league games of the season, he was demoted in favour of fellow summer signing Donnarumma in early September.

France international Mike Maignan could also be a viable option, especially with his current AC Milan contract set to expire next summer.

Emiliano Martinez’s name has also been mentioned in the past. Although he is under contract with Aston Villa until June 2029, he could be tempted by the prospect of linking up at club level with Spurs captain Cristian Romero, with whom he has won multiple major international titles for Argentina.