Tottenham are suffering from an injury crisis as the calendar turns to 2025, with Ange Postecoglou forced to delve into his depth chart for starting options, especially at the back.
They have been decimated not only along the back line but also in goal, where regular starter Guglielmo Vicario suffered a long-term ankle injury that is set to keep him out for a number of months.
With veteran backup goalkeeper Fraser Forster suffering through a mistake-prone few weeks, Tottenham were convinced to dip into the thin January transfer market to find a replacement.
The Sporting News brings you all the details about Spurs’ new young goalkeeper signing who has been handed his first start for the club just three days after putting pen to paper.
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Who is new Tottenham signing Antonin Kinsky?
Spurs made a winter swoop for 21-year-old goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, finalising the deal on January 5, 2025.
Kinsky arrived from Czech giants Slavia Prague for whom he’s already made 30 appearances despite his young age, especially for a goalkeeper. He had started every league match for the club this season, keeping an incredible 12 clean sheets in the 19 games played.
He arrived for a reported €15 million ($15.5m / £12.5m) fee, signing a six-and-a-half-year deal through the summer of 2031. The youngster sports a big frame at 6 ft 3 ins and is the son of a former Czech Republic international also named Antonin, who earned five caps for the national team in goal.
Antonin Kinsky thought capable of winning starting job at Spurs
While the timing of the signing appears to be nothing more than emergency cover for a ravaged goalkeeping room, it’s anything but a panic move.
Kinsky is considered highly-rated across Europe and could be not only capable of challenging Forster for the starting job while Vicario is injured but also possibly earning the first-choice job long-term.
The Athletic reported that a scout for a Bundesliga club went so far as to compare Kinsky to Bayern Munich legend Manuel Neuer.
“His style has some differences, but he seems bigger than he really is,” the unnamed scout said. “He has presence and gives off a sense of not being afraid.”
The report goes on to describe Kinsky’s best quality as his distribution, capable of possessional passing with both feet.
Yet Kinsky is also a strong shot-stopper, as all goalkeepers must be. He ranks first across all of Europe’s top 10 leagues in save percentage, goals conceded per 90, and clean sheets in league play (the Czech league is the ninth-best league in Europe according to UEFA coefficient).
According to Opta, he sports a +4.9 xGOTA differential through just 19 league games, indicating his saves have been worth nearly five expected goals.
He has also been compared to former Chelsea great Petr Cech, and even consulted with the fellow Czech international before sealing his move to Tottenham.
Kinsky earns Tottenham debut in Carabao Cup vs. Liverpool
With Forster not yet recovered from illness, Kinsky made his Tottenham debut just three days after signing with the club, keeping a truly exceptional clean sheet against the Premier League and Champions League leaders.
He was named to the starting lineup for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semifinal against Liverpool on January 8, and performed well.
Just as the scouting report claimed, Kinsky was strong with the ball at his feet and made a few strong saves too, emerging as one of the best players across the 90 minutes.
He made an awkward but quality stop in the 59th minute when a cross by Mohamed Salah threatened the mouth of goal, as Kinsky was there to rise and meet the ball right on the line. In the 69th minute he got down to his left to stop a dangerous shot by Darwin Nunez, covering his near post well with a strong reflex save.
Kinsky’s best moment then came in stoppage time as he made an absolutely sensational stop to deny Nunez from scoring a dramatic late equaliser. The effort came from around 10 yards out and carried a massive 0.82 xGOT mark, indicating that the data would estimate that attempt to result in a goal 82% of the time.
In fact, it was his counterpart Alisson who nearly made a game-defining blunder as he got away with a horrible giveaway when Pedro Porro missed a 57th minute sitter.
