LONDON (AP) — Tottenham signed goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini from Italian club Atalanta on a season-long loan with an option to make the move permanent, the Premier League team said Saturday.
The 26-year-old Gollini will be expected to challenge stalwart Hugo Lloris. The 34-year-old Frenchman has been with Tottenham since the 2012-13 season, but his contract expires next June.
"I'm here to show that I can be the future of Tottenham," Gollini told club media. "Obviously, now I'm here with Hugo. I have huge respect for him. He's a legend of this club. ... He's a world champion. So for me, it's a privilege, it's an honor to work with him, to train with him. I'm sure I can learn a lot from him."
Gollini, who was part of Manchester United's youth system, played 32 games in all competitions last season for Atalanta, which finished third in Serie A.
"As a team, we have to be really ambitious," he said of his new team. "We should try to win something because it's a big team, it's a big club. Winning has to be the goal."
Gollini also played in the the second-tier Championship with Aston Villa.
He made his international debut for Italy off the bench in a European Championship qualifying match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in November 2019.
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