Spurs Blogsville

Italian players to play for Spurs in the Premier League era

Photo of Daniel Huggins Daniel Huggins | 21:58 24/07/21

Spurs have completed the loan deal for Atalanta goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini today, and should he reach a certain number of appearances in his debut season, a permanent transfer to North London will be triggered.

Surprisingly, Gollini will become only the fourth Italian to represent Spurs in the Premier League, with the last player from Italy to play for Spurs leaving the club way back in 2012.

Can’t remember who those players were? Luckily for you we have profiled the three Italians to play for Spurs in the Premier League before Gollini.

Paulo Tramezzani: 1998-2000

Former defender Paulo Tramezzani is a player you probably would have only heard of if you spend your time researching obscure Spurs knowledge, was a die-hard fan back in the late 90s or randomly came across him in a pub quiz based in North London.

A Christian Gross signing, despite spending two years at the club, the former Inter Milan player made just six appearances for Spurs and never really settled or made an impact – except on his debut for the club in which he scored against Peterborough United in a friendly.

He only played in four more seasons after leaving in White Hart Lane, but his managerial career has been arguably more successful than his playing career – most recently managing Hadjuk Split in Croatia after spells with Swiss side FC Sion and Italian outfit Livorno.

Nicola Berti: 1998-1999

Also a signing under former manager Gross, Nicola Berti is much more of a household name than Tramezzani was, arriving in January 1998 after a superb spell with Inter Milan during the decade before arriving in North London in which he made 229 appearances scoring 29 goals.

A box-to-box midfielder with experience on the International stage after winning 39 caps for Italy, Berti helped steer the club away from relegation – playing an important role in the squad and scoring three times in 21 appearances before leaving on a free transfer for Alaves.

Arguably the most successful spell out of all of the Italian players who have played for Spurs in the Premier League era, despite staying for the shortest period of time.

Carlo Cudicini: 2009-2012

Former Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini arrived at Spurs to play under Harry Redknapp and serve as backup for Heurelho Gomes – and his experience was invaluable as the club ventured into the Champions League for the first time in our history.

Despite only playing 12 times, Cudicini was almost ever-present in the Spurs squad apart from a period between late 2009 and Summer 2010 due to a motorcycling accident – but after returning to action he featured in some huge Champions League fixtures – including Spurs’ 4-3 defeat to Inter Milan at the San Siro and the 4-0 victory at home to BSC Young Boys to secure a place in the group stages.

After the arrival of Hugo Lloris in 2012, Cudicini was relegated to third choice keeper and he left in the January transfer window of that season for MLS side LA Galaxy.

Pierluigi Gollini 2021-

Hopefully, Gollini settles in very well at Spurs and achieves more in lily-white than his compatriots who have also put on the club’s shirt in the Premier League era.

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Daniel Huggins
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