Tottenham have made two free agent signings thus far and according to Alasdair Gold might be close to a third. Gold is reporting that Tottenham Hotspur is close to a free agent acquisition of former Burnley and Slovakia international keeper Martin Dubravka.
This is fine, and actually a quite decent signing, especially if he’s coming in as an experienced backup. The scuttlebutt around the club right now is that Robert De Zerbi and Spurs are ready to part ways with Guglielmo Vicario, with Juventus very interested in the Italian keeper. Antonin Kinsky impressed in Tottenham’s run-in this past season, ably filling in for the injured Vicario and even keeping him out of the side for the last couple of matches. That’s an impressive thing for a young keeper, especially after the disasterclass performance in the Europa League loss to Atletico Madrid at the Wanda, a performance that surely dented his confidence. Spurs are expected to give Kinsky the shot at the #1 spot in Vicario’s place, and that means Dubravka would be coming in to both push and back up Kinsky.
Honestly, bringing an experienced and elder keeper in to back up your young potential star is a good move. Dubravka is 37 but has been around the block a LOT over his career. Should Kinsky be injured or simply find himself not up to the task of being Tottenham’s starting keeper, I have no doubt Dubravka could come in and do a job. I wouldn’t imagine that his deal would be longer than 1-2 years – he’s certainly not a long term signing, but he’d be able to mentor Kinsky and step in easily if required. He’s also not Czech like Kinsky but is from the same part of Europe and could be a good life mentor as well.
I don’t hate this at all. While it’d be nice to have a backup keeper be English, homegrown and club trained, that doesn’t matter so much this season as Spurs don’t have to contend with European competition this season. It might make less sense next year if Spurs get back into Europe, but for now this is both fine and good. Let’s make it happen.