05 December 2023 , 10:30
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James Maddison has admitted he had "never heard" of team-mate Guglielmo Vicario before he joined Tottenham and had to look him up on YouTube to "see if he was any good".
Vicario signed for Spurs from Empoli over the summer in a deal worth £16million, with Maddison also joining the club from Leicester a day later. Both players have made an immediate impact, with Vicario joint second for Premier League clean sheets and Maddison making eight goal contributions in 11 league games.
In an interview with former Premier League goalkeeper Ben Foster for Amazon Prime Video, Maddison agrees with Foster's claim that Vicario has been the "best goalkeeper in the Premier League this season".
"I think that's fair," responded Maddison. "I think that's a fair statement to make. We signed him. I hadn't obviously signed yet. I was like 'who is he?' kind of thing. I'd never heard of him. I'm in the back of the car on his YouTube - 'Vicario Highlights' - to see if he was any good.
"They were alright to be fair. Brilliant shot stopper. That's the one thing I think... he's hard to score past. Sometimes we'll practice penalties and stuff and shooting in training, I want him in goal because he's the hardest to score past."
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Tottenham have enjoyed an impressive start to the season under new manager Ange Postecoglou and recently drew 3-3 with defending champions Manchester City in a thrilling game at the Etihad.
Speaking to Premier League Productions after the match, Vicario was full of praise for the way Spurs fought back in the second-half as they twice came from behind to earn a point. "My career started from the bottom, so this is my first year playing with such great players," Vicario said. "
Vicario is now Tottenham's first-choice goalkeeper (Stu Forster/Getty Images)Do you think Tottenham will win silverware this season? Let us know in the comments below!
"I'm very happy to be here and to improve (my game) with my feet so I have to be very thankful to Spurs. In the first-half, we didn't show that. We were not scared, but not free in the mind like we had to be.
"In the dressing room, we looked each other in the eyes and said 'we have to change now' because these are the matches that you dream to play when you're a child. We cannot play with fear, we have to show our best and I think we did.
"Of course we miss many players, but we cannot have excuses. We have to keep going, keep working and nothing's going to change."