Tottenham Hotspur could have signed a new goalkeeper during the summer transfer window, and for most of the 2025/26 season, the expectation was that Spurs would be replacing veteran Guglielmo Vicario with a better, younger goalkeeper. But instead of signing James Trafford from Manchester City as the main dream target Spurs fans wanted, the club and manager Roberto De Zerbi rolled with late breakout star Antonin Kinsky.
Although Kinsky seemed to have screwed up his big opportunity to displace Trafford when the Lilywhites were blown out by Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League knockouts, he redeemed himself after Vicario's absence due to hernia surgery, rendering the Italian international obsolete.
Kinsky played out of his mind down the stretch of the season, becoming a symbol and a hero, resiliently battling his way back after that game against Atleti in which he was hung out to dry by Igor Tudor. Guglielmo Vicario was loaned to Juventus, and the rest was history.
Antonin Kinsky is not making the same plays
But while Antonin Kinsky has been far, far from the problem for Tottenham Hotspur in the winless start to the 2026/27 Premier League season, the Czech international has been surprisingly mediocre. He is not making the same plays he was at the end of the season nor adding value to Spurs in goal, and the drop off from his play has been noticeable.
Meanwhile, the top young goalkeeper Spurs could have signed, James Trafford, is putting in some insane performances for Leeds United ever since his 40 million pound transfer this summer. Trafford is leading the Premier League in save percentage with a clip of 87 percent, while Kinsky's rate is a subpar 60 percent, which gets him nowhere near the top level and is closer to the Vicario Zone.
Tottenham should not give up on Kinsky by any means, but his performances this season are a reminder that now that Spurs are transitioning from survival to actually wanting to compete at the highest level, they need to be ruthless about building around the best players in the league. Kinsky had a great patch of form and was an amazing upgrade on Vicario, but Vic was literally statistically the worst goalkeeper in the Premier League last season; it wasn't even close.
Spurs fans love Kinsky and will always love what he did last season, but football is about what you are doing to win right now. And right now, Kinsky is well behind the other big young keepers in the league like Trafford, and it is hard to argue against the point statistically that Spurs would be better with Trafford in goal. Kinsky is going to have to step up and show that great level from the end of the 2025/26 season again.
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