TOTTENHAM finally have some Good News.
Destiny Udogie signed a year ago from Udinese for £15million but went straight back on loan to the Italian club, so today was the first time fans saw him in a Spurs shirt.
And it was certainly a debut of ups and downs for the Italian, who scored Spurs' equaliser with a clever header as they came back from 2-0 down.
But Tottenham went on to lose the game 3-2 and were slammed by fans for their first-half defending – albeit when Udogie was still on the bench before being introduced at half-time.
The translation of Udogie's Nigerian first name Iyenoma literally translates to "Good News".
Supporters will hope that is exactly what the left-back brings after all the doom and gloom of last season.
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Udogie, 20, said: “I’ve known (what his name means) for five years when I asked my mum, and she told me ‘Good News’. It’s a good name.”
The Italy Under-21 international watched as many Spurs games as he could last season to swot up on his new team and what the Premier League entails.
It must have made for grim viewing though as his parent club suffered a car-crash campaign.
Antonio Conte, the manager who signed Udogie, left in March after a press conference meltdown where he hammered the players before Spurs eventually finished eighth and out of the European places.
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Udogie returns to a much-changed club with Ange Postecoglou now at the helm.
Yet when asked if it felt strange to come back to such a different environment than the one he thought he was joining 12 months ago, the defender replied: “Not really, because I never played here last season so it didn’t affect me anyway.
“The new gaffer is really good. I’m ready to work for him.
“The Premier League is a difficult league. Every year, it turns.
“But the team was good, just not lucky with the season.
“I know it is a big league, a very challenging league. I have confidence, I feel ready.”
Udogie – pronounced "Oooh-doggy" – talked in flawless English as that was the language spoken in his household growing up.
Born in Verona, the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, his first and only love was football.
It was his mum who first encouraged his passion for the game after noticing that “when I was a baby, I was kicking everything I saw around the house”.
He joined Hellas Verona aged ten from a local team, before joining Udinese in 2021 and then on to Spurs a year later, despite talk of interest from Brighton and Manchester City.
Udogie is a defender who loves to attack, netting eight Serie A goals in the last two seasons, and who idolised legendary Real Madrid left-back Marcelo growing up.
On the five-time Champions League winner, Udogie added: “I love the way he played football. It was so clean, the technique, the style, everything.”
Udogie is more of a natural wing-back than a full-back, but is likely to have to adapt to the latter position with Postecoglou expected to play 4-3-3 this term.
Yet the whizkid said: “I’m good because when I started I was a left-back. So it’s not a problem for me. I know how to play it and it’s normal.”
Postecoglou has previously claimed he never has more than one-minute conversations with his players, and Udogie confirmed his chats so far have been brief.
The 6ft2in ace added: "He doesn’t speak a lot but you can see he knows football. He doesn’t need to speak too much, it’s good.
“I like his idea of football. He wants to play football with the ball. It’s not like I defend and I counter-attack. I want to have the ball, so it’s different.”
Harry Kane is among those who have been particularly welcoming to Udogie as he tries to gel with the group.
While the defender has been helped by the arrival of fellow Italian Guglielmo Vicario, who sees Udogie as his “little brother”.
A basketball and tennis fan, Udogie stayed up late out here in Australia to watch his hero Novak Djokovic lose the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz in an enthralling epic.
Entertainment is all most Spurs fans are asking for this season after the dull fare served up by Conte, Nuno Espirito Santo and Jose Mourinho.
Asked if supporters will have that wish granted this term, Udogie replied: “Definitely.
“We have a very good team and I feel like this is going to be a good season for us.
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“We’re going to play good football.”
Destiny Udogie was speaking at a Tottenham Hotspur Global Football Development session with beneficiaries from Telethon, one of the largest charities in WA that raises funds to deliver programmes for sick, vulnerable, and disadvantaged children. The participants were also invited to the team’s open training session in Perth from which all proceeds will be donated to Telethon.
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