Juventus Signs Guglielmo Vicario on Loan: A Strategic Move

Juventus have abandoned their chase for Emiliano Martinez and thrown their weight behind a different solution between the posts: Guglielmo Vicario.

After weeks of talks with Aston Villa, the Italian giants walked away once it became clear the Premier League club would not move from their €15m (£12.8m) valuation. No discount, no compromise, no deal.

So Juventus pivoted. Fast.

According to The Athletic, they reached a total agreement with Tottenham on Monday to bring Vicario back to Serie A, a homecoming for the 29-year-old a year after he left Empoli for north London. This is not a blockbuster permanent signing, but a carefully calculated move.

Per Tuttosport, the deal is a loan with a non-mandatory €10.5m (£9m) purchase option. Juventus get a full season to test Vicario under pressure in Turin, to see if he truly fits Luciano Spalletti’s demands, before deciding whether to trigger the clause. After the stalemate with Villa, it is a far more flexible, cost-conscious route.

The move also underlines a shift at Tottenham. Roberto De Zerbi has already settled on Antonin Kinsky as his preferred number one, clearing the way for Vicario’s exit. The Italian’s time in England was turbulent: he arrived from Empoli for around €20m, stepped straight into Hugo Lloris’s shoes and, for a spell, looked every inch the long-term successor.

Then came the bumps. A handful of high-profile errors crept into his game, confidence wobbled, and hernia surgery in March halted his season. He lost his starting spot and never fully reclaimed it.

Now he walks into one of Italy’s most demanding dressing rooms.

His arrival immediately disrupts the goalkeeping hierarchy in Turin. Vicario is expected to compete for – and likely claim – the starting role, casting a shadow over Michele Di Gregorio’s future. According to Fabrizio Romano, Juventus have already offered Di Gregorio to Marseille and other European clubs on loan, a clear sign of where the club sees the balance shifting.

Spalletti’s influence is obvious in this move. The Italy coach has pushed for a goalkeeper comfortable playing out from the back, someone who can start attacks as well as end them. During his early months at Tottenham, Vicario showed precisely that profile: brave with the ball, willing to take risks, happy to be the first pass in the build-up.

His form tailed off in England, but inside Juventus there is a strong belief that a return to the tactical, detail-heavy environment of Serie A can reset him. The expectation is simple: the structure around him in Turin will allow his strengths to resurface and his decision-making to sharpen.

This is not an isolated signing, either. Juventus are reshaping their defensive core. Jhon Lucumi has already arrived from Bologna to reinforce the back line, and Vicario now joins as the new anchor behind it. Piece by piece, the Old Lady are building a retooled rearguard for Spalletti.

The question now is not whether Vicario gets his chance. It is how quickly he can turn this second shot in Serie A into proof that Juventus backed the right goalkeeper at the right time.