Iyenoma Destiny Udogie (; born 28 November 2002) is an Italian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

and the Italy national team.

Club career

Hellas Verona

Udogie developed in the

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

youth system, and made his

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

debut on 8 November 2020, in a 2–2 draw away to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Udinese

On 15 July 2021, Udogie joined

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

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

Tottenham Hotspur

On 16 August 2022,

confirmed that they had signed Udogie on a permanent transfer for a fee of €20 million until 2027, with Udogie immediately loaned back to Udinese for the 2022–23 season. 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 Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. On 10 December, he scored his first

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

goal for Tottenham in a 4–1 victory over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. On 12 December, Udogie signed a new contract at the club, running to 2030. His first season with ''Spurs'' was cut short in April 2024, as he underwent surgery following an injury to his left quadriceps. On 9 May, Udogie was nominated for the Premier League Young Player of the Season Award.

International career

Born in Italy, Udogie is of Nigerian descent. He was a youth international for Italy. 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 Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, which ended in a 3–0 win. On 6 October 2023, Udogie received his first official call-up to the Italian senior national team by head coach

Luciano Spalletti Luciano Spalletti (; born 7 March 1959) is an Italian Association football, football Association football manager, manager and former association footballer, player. He was most recently the manager of the Italy national football team, Italian n ...

for their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers against

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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 Davide Frattesi (born 22 September 1999) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Italy national team. Club career Sassuolo On 20 December 2017, Frattesi made his professional debut ...

's closing goal in a 4–0 victory. Three days later, he made his first international start in a 3–1 loss to England at the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the Tottenham Hotspur F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Udogie, Destiny 2002 births Living people Footballers from Verona Italian men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's international footballers Italian people of Nigerian descent Serie A players Premier League players Hellas Verona FC players Udinese Calcio players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players UEFA Europa League–winning players Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in England 21st-century Italian sportsmen