Destination Tottenham: Udogie to undergo medical before loan back to Udinese

Maybe it really was (*cough*)... preordained. The Evening Standard is now writing that Tottenham Hotspur target and 19-year old Udinese defender Destiny Udogie is set to undergo a medical in Italy before finalizing a formal transfer to Tottenham Hotspur this summer. Udogie will then be immediately loaned back to the Serie A club for the duration of the 2022-23 season.

We’ve been tracking this move for a few days now, and there’s not a ton of new information — just a continuation of the process. Udogie is a player for the future — he had a breakout season for Udinese last season as a left sided wingback, and Tottenham almost certainly view him as an eventual replacement for Ivan Perisic, who Spurs signed this summer but who is also 34 years old and doesn’t have many years left in his career.

A loan for Udogie means he’s following the same general path as both Pape Matar Sarr and Bryan Gil, both young players with huge upsides who spent time out on loan last season due to there already being veterans in their positions. It’s good for Udogie, who knows that he will continue to get regular first team minutes at a club he knows, and also that he has an upgraded squad to compete with in the Premier League at the conclusion of his loan.

The medical taking place in Italy likely means that we won’t get the slickly produced hype video when the transfer eventually goes through, but that’s okay. Previous reporting suggested that Udogie’s transfer fee is somewhere around £20-22m.

Cue up the Magnificent Seven jokes and let’s get ready for the .gif party.