Destiny Udogie

Destiny Udogie
Udogie in 2025
Personal information
Full name Iyenoma Destiny Udogie[1]
Date of birth (2002-11-28) 28 November 2002
Place of birth Verona, Italy[2]
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Position Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Tottenham Hotspur
Number 13
Youth career
2017–2020 Hellas Verona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2022 Hellas Verona 6 (0)
2021–2022 → Udinese (loan) 35 (5)
2022 Udinese 0 (0)
2022– Tottenham Hotspur 73 (2)
2022–2023 → Udinese (loan) 33 (3)
International career‡
2018–2019 Italy U16 2 (0)
2018–2019 Italy U17 15 (2)
2019–2020 Italy U18 8 (1)
2019–2020 Italy U19 4 (0)
2021–2023 Italy U21 8 (0)
2023– Italy 12 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:01, 24 May 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 6 June 2025

Iyenoma Destiny Udogie (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdɛstini uˈdɔːɡi];[4] born 28 November 2002) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Italy national team.

Club career

Hellas Verona

Udogie developed in the Hellas Verona youth system, and made his Serie A debut on 8 November 2020, in a 2–2 draw away to Milan.[5]

Udinese

On 15 July 2021, Udogie joined Udinese on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy.[6] During his debut season, he made 37 appearances for the club, primarily as a left wingback, and scored five goals.[7] Following his debut season, Udinese activated the option-to-buy clause for a reported €4 million.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 16 August 2022, Tottenham Hotspur confirmed that they had signed Udogie on a permanent transfer for a fee of €20 million[8] until 2027, with Udogie immediately loaned back to Udinese for the 2022–23 season.[9] Udogie made his debut for Tottenham on 13 August 2023 during the first matchday of the 2023–24 Premier League season, starting in an away match against Brentford.[10] On 10 December, he scored his first Premier League goal for Tottenham in a 4–1 victory over Newcastle United.[11][12] On 12 December, Udogie signed a new contract at the club, running to 2030.[13] His first season with Spurs was cut short in April 2024, as he underwent surgery following an injury to his left quadriceps.[14][15] On 9 May, Udogie was nominated for the Premier League Young Player of the Season Award.[16]

International career

Udogie with Italy in 2025

Born in Italy, Udogie is of Nigerian descent. He was a youth international for Italy.[17]

On 3 September 2021, he made his debut with the Italy U21 squad, starting in the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying match against Luxembourg, which ended in a 3–0 win.[18]

On 6 October 2023, Udogie received his first official call-up to the Italian senior national team by head coach Luciano Spalletti for their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and England.[19] He then made his debut for Italy on 14 October 2023, coming on as a substitute in the 79th minute of the former match: in the process, he assisted Davide Frattesi's closing goal in a 4–0 victory.[20][21] Three days later, he made his first international start in a 3–1 loss to England at the Wembley Stadium.[22][23] Udogie sustained an injury during his first full season with Tottenham Hotspur which in turn ruled him out of the 2024 UEFA Euro and Italy's European Championship team. Italy was later eliminated in the Round of 16 by Switzerland.[24]

Style of play

Considered to be a promising player in the media, Udogie is a tall, tactically versatile, quick, and physically powerful defender, with good technique, vision, and stamina, who likes to make attacking runs with the ball.[25][26][27] He mainly plays as a left-sided full-back or wing-back, although he is also capable of playing as a wide midfielder, or in the centre of defence, or even in midfield as a mezzala or defensive midfielder.[25][26][28][29] During his time at Tottenham, he improved his all-round gameplay, showing significant developments.[27][30][31] He has cited Brazilian attacking left-back Marcelo as a major influence.[25]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 24 May 2026[32]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hellas Verona 2020–21 Serie A 6010——70
Udinese (loan) 2021–22 Serie A 35520——375
2022–23 Serie A 33310——343
Total 68830——718
Tottenham Hotspur 2023–24 Premier League 2822000—302
2024–25 Premier League 25000209[c]0360
2025–26 Premier League 20000107[d]0280
Total 7322030160942
Career total 14710603016017010
  1. ↑ Includes Coppa Italia, FA Cup
  2. ↑ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 6 June 2025[33]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Italy 202320
202470
202530
Total120

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

References

  1. ↑ "2023/24 Premier League squad lists". Premier League. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  2. ↑ Destiny Udogie at WorldFootball.net
  3. ↑ "Destiny Udogie: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  4. ↑ Destiny has said that his surname is pronounced 'ooh-doggy'. Gold, Alasdair (18 July 2023). "Destiny Udogie explains Ange Postecoglou's plan for him and why he likes the new Tottenham boss". football.london. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  5. ↑ "Hellas Verona, esordio in Serie A per Udogie". MondoPrimavera. 8 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Udogie è un nuovo giocatore dell'Udinese" (in Italian). Udinese Calcio. 15 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Malley, Tom (9 August 2022). "Tottenham on verge of landing Udinese star Destiny Udogie in £20m transfer". mirror. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  8. ↑ Clark, Gill (19 September 2023). "Tottenham sign teenage sensation Destiny Udogie but loan him back to Udinese". Goal (website). Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  9. ↑ "Udogie signs from Udinese". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "Spurs kick off post-Harry Kane era with 2–2 draw at Brentford". The National. 13 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  11. ↑ McNulty, Phil (10 December 2023). "Richarlison scores twice as Spurs thump Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Calvi, Francesco (10 December 2023). "Milan, questo Newcastle è in caduta libera. Il City senza Haaland ritrova la vittoria". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  13. ↑ "Udogie signs new Spurs deal to 2030". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Injury update | Destiny Udogie". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  15. ↑ Chinellato, Davide (20 April 2024). "Udogie operato, quadricipite ko e stagione finita. Addio all'Europeo". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  16. ↑ "Udogie shortlisted for Premier League's Young Player of the Season award". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  17. ↑ "Nigeria-Eligible Fullback Udogie Fires Italy Into The Final Of U17 EURO :: All Nigeria Soccer – The Complete Nigerian Football Portal". allnigeriasoccer.com.
  18. ↑ "Esordio con vittoria per la nuova Italia. Nicolato: "Ho visto un grande impegno, ma dobbiamo lavorare"" (in Italian). figc.it. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  19. ↑ "Prosegue il cammino verso EURO 2024: 27 convocati per le gare con Malta e Inghilterra, prima chiamata per Udogie" (in Italian). 6 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  20. ↑ Bocci, Alessandro (14 October 2023). "Bella vittoria dell'Italia su Malta, gol di Bonaventura, doppio Berardi e Frattesi Finale 4–0". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  21. ↑ "Azzurri forza 4 a Bari: battuta Malta grazie alla doppietta di Berardi e ai gol di Bonaventura e Frattesi". Italian Football Federation (in Italian). 14 October 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  22. ↑ "Non basta Scamacca: l'Italia si arrende a Bellingham e Kane. Ora con l'Ucraina è decisiva". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 17 October 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  23. ↑ Hytner, David (17 October 2023). "Kane and Rashford seal England spot at Euro 2024 with comeback win over Italy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  24. ↑ read, Football Italia·3 min (16 July 2025). "Spurs star Udogie sets sights on 'dream' of playing for Italy at World Cup". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 5 February 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. 1 2 3 Eccleshare, Charlie (11 August 2022). "Destiny Udogie: Tottenham are signing the perfect wing-back to bed into Conte's system". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  26. 1 2 Walker, Ron (14 January 2024). "Destiny Udogie: Tottenham defender's instant impact no surprise after years of early impressions". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  27. 1 2 Rzouki, Mina (28 December 2023). "Tottenham Hotspur: Destiny Udogie is a 'rare talent' destined for the top". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  28. ↑ "Destiny Udogie: Tottenham agree deal to sign Udinese left-back but will loan him back to Serie A club this season". Sky Sports. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  29. ↑ "Udogie è un nuovo giocatore dell'Udinese < Squadra < News < Udinese". www.udinese.it. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  30. ↑ "Tottenham, tutti pazzi per Vicario e Udogie: "Bravi e affamati"". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 29 September 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  31. ↑ Eccleshare, Charlie (4 December 2023). "Tottenham's Destiny Udogie: 'Knowing I have Postecoglou's trust is a big motivation'". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  32. ↑ Destiny Udogie at Soccerway
  33. ↑ Destiny Udogie FIGC Italy profile (in Italian)
  34. ↑ "Tottenham vs Man Utd | UEFA Europa League 2024/25 Final". UEFA. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
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