Tottenham are taking the prudent approach with Destiny Udogie transfer | OneFootball

When Tottenham signed Destiny Udogie from Udinese for 20 million euros, they were getting in the door early for one of the most promising and versatile young fullback talents in European football, taking a moderate risk on a potentially high-reward player in a league they identifed as being undervalued as a whole on the transfer market.

The early returns on Udogie were strongly positive, as the young Italian international had a nice breakout season for the Friulani before permanently moving to Tottenham and becoming a fixture in the first team squad.

But in 2024/25 with Tottenham struggling mightily in the Premier League, Udogie has been among the talents failing to perform to their usual standard. Udogie has been quietly excellent defensively with around 4 tackles and interceptions per game to just 0.6 dribbles allowed per match. However, the 22-year-old left back has made a shockingly minimal impact offensively with no goals, one assist, and just 0.7 key passes and 0.5 dribbles completed per game.

Tottenham still see Destiny Udogie as important

According to a report from Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports Germany, Tottenham have no intention of selling Udogie this summer transfer window despite interest from other European clubs. They may, however, want to sign another left back to compete with Udogie. Tottenham view Udogie as a "key" to their team and are currently uninterested in selling at any price.

That is exactly what Tottenham fans should want to see from the club as their stance on a talented, versatile, and well-rounded fullback at a premium position who would not be easily replaced on the transfer window.

The last thing any team should do is sell a premium young player who isn't even having a bad season just because his attacking output is lower on a, quite frankly, garbage team that is saddled with abhorrently poor coaching. Udogie is the least of Spurs' problems.

Now, if Tottenham want a young backup to take some much-needed pressure - and minutes - off Udogie's backs and hedge their bets a little, then making a modest signing should not be contraindicated in the slightest. But giving up on Udogie at this stage would be borderline idiotic, and as poor as Spurs' transfer strategy has been over the years under Daniel Levy, they aren't nearly dumb enough to kick Udogie to the curb.

The most prudent strategy is to stand pat, avoid being the wrong end of any transfer bargains this summer, and take a gander at the market for any more underrated opportunities at left back who can be an understudy to Udogie in 2025/26.