DONE DEAL: Pierluigi Gollini joins Tottenham on loan

It’s done! As expected, Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed their latest new signing on social media, announcing the loan signing of goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini from Serie A side Atalanta.

Gollini’s tenure is, for now, a one-year loan, although Tottenham have the option of extending that loan for a second year should they desire. In addition, there is also a purchase clause of €15m past the second year of the loan should he make a certain number of appearances (unknown at this time) within his loan tenure.

Do Spurs really need another backup keeper? In short, probably. Hugo Lloris is heading into the final year of his contract and it’s expected that, if he’s not improbably sold this summer, he will be allowed to depart on a free transfer next summer. Joe Hart, while a nice guy, is not the guy you want in goal if Hugo gets injured, and Alfie Whiteman doesn’t quite seem ready to make the step up to second in command. Signing Gollini means that Spurs have a keeper who is a very solid reserve and who is probably going to try and compete with Hugo from the jump. Hopefully it means that, if Hart stays around, Alfie Whiteman can head off on a loan of his own.

The rumors of Gollini being homegrown were unfortunately just wide of the mark — while Manchester United did sign Gollini in 2011 and kept him for three years, due to an injury he was not registered for most of that first year in Manchester, hence he does not qualify as homegrown for Premier League or UEFA purposes. That would’ve been a nice bonus, but it’s obviously not a deal-breaker.

Welcome to Tottenham, Pierluigi!