Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario gestures during Tottenham

Why do so few Italians move to the Premier League? Tottenham star explains culture differences

February 21, 2024 Sports 2 Views

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has given his view on why relatively few Italian players move to the Premier League.

A number of Italian footballers have been successful in England over the years, including Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo and Gianluca Vialli at Chelsea.

Paolo Di Canio, Fabrizio Ravanelli and Mario Balotelli also enjoyed successful spells in the Premier League, but most of Italy’s top players have traditionally preferred to stay in Serie A.

In terms of Italian goalkeepers, only Carlo Cudicini has been successful in England, with Massimo Taibi and Pierluigi Gollini both returning to Serie A after short stays in the Premier League.

And at Tottenham, there has not been a great tradition of Italian players either, with Gollini, Paolo Tramezzani, Cudicini and an ageing Nicola Berti the only ones to have played for Spurs prior to Vicario’s arrival in 2023.

“Many Italians don’t want this opportunity – because of the different culture, it’s not easy to say, ‘OK, we go to another country, maybe we don’t know the language, and it could be a little bit colder during winter,’” Vicario told FourFourTwo in an exclusive interview.

“But I only thought about the chance to join Spurs, to play in the Premier League and to live in a big city like London.”

While many Italian players are happy to stay close to family and friends, enjoying the cuisine, the culture and the warmer weather in Italy, Vicario was keen to leave his comfort zone.

“I don’t need comfortable stuff in my life,” he said. “Life is too easy to live in a comfort zone – for me this was a challenge. The level here is the best in the world. It was also an opportunity to experience how people live in a different way to Italy, and to learn a new language in a new dressing room.”

Read the full interview with Guglielmo Vicario in the current issue of FourFourTwo, in shops now, or BUY HERE WITH FREE DELIVERY