Sky Sports journalist Michael Bridge has claimed Tottenham will not be afraid to be ruthless if they choose to offload Pierluigi Gollini, despite his alleged popularity within the squad.
Spurs signed the goalkeeper on a season-loan from Atalanta last summer, but he has found opportunities come at a premium during his stint in North London.
Gollini has made just 10 appearances in all competitions (Transfermarkt) with his last coming in Tottenham’s Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea, and the shotstopper has largely been restricted to watching Hugo Lloris from the sidelines.
Football Insider previously reported that Tottenham are not planning to exercise the £13 million option to make the loan deal permanent, which would see Gollini return to parent club Atalanta at its conclusion.
And Bridge, who has been left unconvinced by Gollini’s displays when in action this term, is unsure as to whether the Italian’s uplifting personality will be enough to convince Spurs to keep him.
Bridge told GiveMeSport: “What I do know about Gollini is that he’s immensely popular in the squad, but that shouldn’t make any difference when you’re trying to build a better squad.
“I don’t know whether that will make him stay, but if Tottenham are in the Europa League next season and Lloris doesn’t play in any of the group matches you want a good goalkeeper, and for me, I’ve only seen him four of five times, but Gollini has shown nothing to suggest that he’s anywhere near the level of Hugo Lloris.”
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Meanwhile, Tottenham have continued to make plans on bolstering their goalkeeping department by targeting West Brom stopper Sam Johnstone (The Sun).
Spurs are said to view Johnstone, 29, as an initial back-up to No 1 option Lloris but believe he could eventually succeed the Frenchman between the posts.
Spurs Web Opinion
While Gollini may be a bubbly character in the Spurs dressing room from all the footage on social media, football is a results game and that comes before pretty much anything.
He hasn’t had too many opportunities, but he hasn’t impressed when he has been in goal and the club will look at that when it comes to making their decision on him this summer.
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