Michel Vorm’s move from Swansea City to Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth £4.5m has been confirmed and the goalkeeper is convinced he will enjoy sufficient game time, despite the competition from Hugo Lloris, the France No1.
Mauricio Pochettino, the new Tottenham manager, has also completed the signing of Ben Davies from Swansea – the left-back has linked up with the club on their tour of north America – with Gylfi Sigurdsson moving in the opposite direction in a £10m swap deal. The Iceland midfielder enjoyed a productive spell at Swansea in 2012, when he was on loan from Hoffenheim.
Vorm’s move has been greeted with surprise as Lloris is firmly established as the first choice at Tottenham. Unless Lloris is injured, there is very little chance that Vorm will displace him in the Premier League. But Vorm, who was Holland’s third-choice goalkeeper at the World Cup finals, knows that he stands to enjoy opportunity this season in the Europa League and the Capital One Cup.
Moreover, his purchase could prove particularly shrewd for Tottenham in the longer term, given that Lloris remains a target for some of Europe’s biggest clubs. Lloris signed a new five-year contract at White Hart Lane this month but long-term deals have not always guaranteed that Tottenham have been able to keep their best players. Luka Modric agreed a six-year extension in 2010 and was a Real Madrid player after two, while Gareth Bale signed for four extra years in 2012 and moved to Real the following summer.
“Every club has two top goalkeepers in their squad,” Vorm said. “It suits the club’s philosophy that there are two of us, with Hugo and myself, especially when we see that Tottenham is active in a lot of competitions. I was on holiday [after the World Cup] and I was literally plucked from the beach. In my eyes, Tottenham is a really big club.”
Sigurdsson told Sky Sports News: “The main aim for the club is obviously to stay in the Premier League but we want to push on even further and get the club back into the Europa League like they were last season. Hopefully we can finish in the top half of the table.”