It started as a few annoyed fans and grew into legitimate transfer speculation, but Tottenham Hotspur starting goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario looks like he has truly made doubters out of most of the Spurs fan base and the club's brass itself.
Although Vicario is a perfectly fine shot stopper with the reflexes to make some incredible saves, the Italian international has cost Tottenham quite a few points this season by being genuinely poor at everything else. His postioning, handling, and work on the ball have been horrid, leading to unforced errors that undo the few truly game breaking saves he makes.
Tottenham are already on the verge of letting top backup Antonin Kinsky, one of the most promising young goalkeepers in the Premier League, go on loan to West Ham United, where he could eventually move permanently to become the Hammers new No. 1 in goal.
Robin Roefs is one to watch
If Tottenham were indeed to do that, it makes finding the next goalkeeper to succeed Vicario this summer all the more important. And when it comes to important tasks, Spurs have shown to their fan base that they cannot be trusted fully,
According to a report from talkSPORT insider Alex Crook, Tottenham Hotspur are interested in stealing away Sunderland 23 year old breakout star Robin Roefs in goal. Roefs just joined the Black Cats upon their Premier League promotion and has legitimately been one of the best goalkeepers in European football - a clean sheet machine who has been a huge part of the club's success this season.
But while Roefs would be a younger alternative to Guglielmo Vicario and an exciting upgrade, the other transfer target Tottenham are now linked to is far less exciting. Per a report from BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel, Tottenham are also eyeing Sam Johnstone on loan from Wolves.
Now if we assume Tottenham are a reasonably well run club, then the Johnstone links would not be alarming at all in the context of Spurs likely sending Antonin Kinsky to West Ham. Johnstone would be his loan replacement for Kinsky so that Kinsky could get minutes, but then following that logic, you would also have to assume that Spurs would not be so stupid as to let Kinsky have an option to buy in his loan deal with their local London rivals.
Look, Johnstone is not anywhere near as talented as Kinsky, nor is he the caliber of goalkeeper to replace Vicario. Either way you spin it, Johnstone is not somebody Tottenham should be interested in him and is half the goalkeeper Roefs is while being worse than Vicario, too. Being linked to a loan like Johnstone makes zero sense for Spurs.