At the end of the season Sommer will say goodbye. The Tottenham goalkeeper, who fades in 2023, does not have a good time in London. And this time it may come, but Oaktree needs to be convinced to make a significant investment
This year we certainly cannot say that we are bored in Inter’s goal: the role is turbulent as never before, the movements concern the past and also the future. While Yann Sommer seems to be suffering the weight of the years and Pepo Martinez’s painful personal problems have made a stable succession to the throne difficult – the Spaniard should still see the field again tomorrow against Venezia in a Coppa Italia match less stressful than many others -, the club has not stopped thinking about next year. At the end of the season the Swiss will say goodbye for having reached the limits, so for months the managers have decided that a substantial investment in goal will have to be made. In the wide-ranging evaluations, which concerned Serie A (here the favorite is Caprile of Cagliari) but also and above all foreign tournaments, it was current events that came to the rescue: Tottenham’s complicated last few weeks have rekindled attention on an old obsession, which faded to the best in 2023. Guglielmo Vicario, in fact, has decided to return to Serie A.
the ball
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In north London there are different moods: Arteta’s Arsenal are walking on clouds, while Thomas Frank’s Tottenham are on the edge of the precipice. For this reason, Vicario’s agent has reopened a communication channel with Inter: the race to embrace the Italian goalkeeper returning to his homeland is vast, but president Beppe Marotta and sporting director Piero Ausilio are certainly in full swing. Among other things, the former Empoli player was considered the perfect goalkeeper for Inter three seasons ago, when he was also highly recommended by Samir Handanovic. It was the summer in which Onana ended up in red Manchester for a mountain of millions, 50 even, and arrived at Pinetina without any fanfare Sommer. The difficulties surrounding the lucrative sale of the Cameroonian had meant that the fleeting moment to enlist the Italian, who later settled at Tottenham, was lost. On Saturday, however, Vicario was booed harshly by the fans after a serious blunder against Fulham: he took the blame, the manager defended him, but a cold wind is blowing at Spurs. At the moment, Vicario earns 2.5 million pounds and has a contract until 2028: it is an “attackable” situation on the transfer market, but the Nerazzurri’s problems go further down the line. Oaktree needs to be convinced to invest around thirty million in a 29-year-old, a target outside the fund’s parameters, who would always prefer young people who can be resold. At Tottenham, a very expensive shop of its own, Fabio Paratici governs the sporting area, not the best friend of the Nerazzurri management.
the pepo case
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The match will come to life in the coming weeks, while Inter are forced to live in the present. Tomorrow, for example, Chivu should measure the psycho-physical balance of Martinez, Sommer’s deputy to whom he should give a chance in a delicate moment: it is not easy to live with the thought of the 81-year-old victim, inadvertently hit along the road to Appiano on 28 October, let alone giving his all in training and on the pitch. The Spaniard is a silent guy by character and has concentrated on his profession, waiting for this very moment. All this, while the investigation for road homicide that hangs over his head proceeds in parallel: at the moment, two technical consultations are underway requested by the Como prosecutor who is in charge of the file, Giulia Ometto. On the one hand, work continues on the autopsy, which would have already confirmed that the man’s death was not caused by a previous illness, but by the impact itself with the Spaniard’s car; on the other hand, the kinematic expertise that studies the traces on the ground and on the two vehicles involved, the SUV and the victim’s electric quadricycle. This latest examination will have to definitively reconstruct the dynamics of the accident and, above all, establish Martinez’s speed on a road where the limit is 90 per hour. In any case, there are at least two witnesses who have already confirmed how the elderly man’s vehicle skidded, invading the lane. The prosecutor’s consultants took 90 days, which can however be extended: more time will be needed, while the fine for distracted driving that was notified to the Spaniard on the spot was contested.
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