Vicario 'not top class yet', says Pagliuca amid reported Inter interest

Guglielmo Vicario is a "very good goalkeeper" but not a "top-class player yet", according to former Inter goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca.

The Tottenham stopper has reportedly expressed an interest in joining the Nerazzurri, as a replacement for Yann Sommer.

Sommer, who turns 37 this month and has recently come under scrutiny, has helped Inter win the Scudetto and reach the Champions League final during his two-and-a-half-year spell at San Siro, where his contract is due to expire next June.

Speculation suggests Vicario – Italy's second-choice goalkeeper behind Gianluigi Donnarumma – could be a candidate to replace the Swiss between the sticks.

The 29-year-old has kept nine clean sheets in 22 appearances for Tottenham this season, during which he has saved 71% of shots he has faced in the Premier League.

Vicario has also prevented 0.2 goals per 90 minutes in the English top flight this term, a figure only bettered by Crystal Palace's Dean Henderson (0.3).

Pagliuca – a 1994 World Cup finalist with Italy and 1998 UEFA Cup winner with Inter – fully respects Vicario's qualities, but does have reservations. 

"Yann is a reliable goalkeeper and has experience," the 58-year-old told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I don’t know what Inter want to do, but the fact that he's been questioned over two mistakes seems a bit excessive to me.

"[Vicario is] a very good goalkeeper, the second choice for our national team. He has experience in Italy and also in the Premier League.

"However, I don't see him as a top-class player yet. He has experience because he's been between the posts for a long time; he's 29, but he doesn't give me the feeling of being a top player."