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If someone had told you in March that Antonin Kinsky would be one of the reasons Tottenham escape relegation, you would have laughed them out of the room. We have now identified why this is the most Spurs story of a very, very Spurs season.
Eight weeks ago he was in tears walking down the tunnel at the Wanda Metropolitano, hauled off after just 17 minutes with Spurs 3-0 down, having made two errors that effectively ended our Champions League campaign before the half-hour mark. Tonight at Villa Park, that same goalkeeper stood firm for 90 minutes as Spurs protected a crucial 2-1 lead, composed and assured as the pressure grew.
The narrative arc is almost absurd in how perfectly constructed it is. Igor Tudor dropped Guglielmo Vicario, who had started every European game of the campaign, to hand Kinsky his Champions League debut in the round of 16 first leg against Atletico Madrid. The decision backfired catastrophically.
Kinsky slipped and played the ball straight to an Atletico player, leading to Marcos Llorente scoring the first goal. He was then at fault again for the third, gifting possession straight to Julián Álvarez, who finished calmly to make it 3-0.
Tudor, without so much as a consolatory glance at his goalkeeper, had him off after 17 minutes. Spurs lost 5-2. Palhinha, Gallagher and Solanke famously followed Kinsky down the tunnel to console a 23-year-old who had just lived through the worst 17 minutes of his professional life.
What followed said more about Kinsky’s character than anything he did on the pitch. He posted on Instagram: “From dream to nightmare to dream again.” David De Gea reached out publicly, telling him that only a goalkeeper can understand how hard the position is. Most would have needed weeks to recover psychologically. Kinsky was back in training the next day.
Photo by Michael Steele/Getty ImagesThe Wolves save that changed everything for Antonin Kinsky and Tottenham
There is a case to be made that the moment the season turned, not just for Antonin Kinsky but for Tottenham as a whole, was the 98th minute at Molineux on April 25.
Palhinha had given Spurs a 1-0 lead with eight minutes to play, their first league win of 2026 finally within reach, when Joao Gomes stepped up for a free-kick in stoppage time that felt destined to go in. Kinsky flung himself full-stretch to his left and clawed it away one-handed, his momentum carrying him into the post. His teammates swarmed him. The moment was everything.
That save has since been nominated for the Premier League’s Coca-Cola Save of the Month for April, shortlisted alongside Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and Bernd Leno. For a goalkeeper who barely anyone expected to feature again this season after his Atletico nightmare, that is a remarkable turnaround in the space of six weeks.
Then came Villa Park. Spurs dominated the first half with over 60 per cent possession, Gallagher and Richarlison having the game won by the 25th minute, and for long stretches Kinsky had almost nothing to do.
That changes, of course, when you concede a late goal and suddenly find yourself defending a lead in the 85th minute with a roared-on home crowd pressing for an equaliser.
Kinsky handled every cross, dealt with every set piece, and kept his composure on the ball in a way that Roberto De Zerbi clearly demands from his goalkeeper. SpursWeb rated him 7.5 on the night, and given how little he was tested, that is probably fair. The performance was defined by its calmness rather than its drama.
What Kinsky himself said about the Atletico nightmare
In the days before the Villa game, Kinsky spoke for the first time about what the experience at the Metropolitano had done to him, and his answer was genuinely striking. He told Sky Sports: “I’m stronger by that one experience. It’s not like before, I would feel weak. Now I feel stronger because I made that experience. You make it because you are strong already, and it makes you just stronger.”
He also gave an interview to Tottenham’s official channels about what the fans have meant to him during this period, describing the atmosphere at Spurs games as “a big army going for the one goal that we have.” That is not the language of a player who has been broken by a bad night. That is a player who has used it as fuel.
There is a psychological maturity in that response that you do not always get from a 23-year-old thrown into a Champions League last-16 tie having not started a game in five months. Kinsky had been unsettled at Tottenham for much of the season.
Seven clubs had expressed loan interest in January, including West Ham, Besiktas and Freiburg. Spurs refused to let him go. At the time, that felt like a club keeping a backup warm in case Vicario got injured. In hindsight, it may have been one of the better decisions of the season.
The Vicario situation leaves Tottenham’s number one spot wide open
Of course, none of this would matter quite as much if Vicario were staying. He is not. Inter Milan have agreed personal terms with the Italian international, stepping in ahead of Juventus to replace Yann Sommer at the San Siro. Spurs sanctioned the departure as far back as January, and while a fee has not been agreed, the direction of travel is clear. Vicario is leaving. The question of who becomes Tottenham’s number one next season is a real one.
There is a gap between the fee Inter are reportedly offering and what Spurs are asking, which means the deal is not completely done. But in footballing terms, Vicario has made his preference clear, and Tottenham have moved on from him.
Reports suggest that Spurs are monitoring James Trafford at Manchester City and Bart Verbruggen at Brighton as potential replacements. Both are quality options, and we do believe Tottenham need to sign a goalkeeper regardless of what division they are in next season.
But here is the thing: Kinsky has just played four consecutive games under De Zerbi, including arguably the biggest Premier League fixture of Spurs’ season, and he has been nothing short of excellent. The Premier League Save of the Month nomination is not a technicality.
His composure on the ball is exactly what De Zerbi needs from a goalkeeper operating in a high possession system. He talks to his defenders. He organises. He does not panic. These are not minor qualities for a player who was described as a squad goalkeeper six months ago.
Is Antonin Kinsky good enough to be our number one at Tottenham?
We should be honest about what we do not yet know. Four competitive league starts in a relegation run-in is not the same as a full season as number one at a Premier League club. Kinsky will be 24 in May, and his entire career between the posts for Spurs has amounted to a few cup starts, a Champions League nightmare, and a run of games that came about only because Vicario had hernia surgery. The sample size is genuinely small.
There are also questions about whether his performances under pressure will hold when the stakes are different: when it is not a fight-for-survival game against a title-chasing Villa side, but a routine Tuesday night when concentration has to be sustained rather than adrenaline-fuelled. That is a different test entirely.
What we do believe, though, is that the argument against Antonin Kinsky has shifted. Six weeks ago, the question was whether he would feature again for Tottenham at all. Tonight, it is whether he deserves to be given a genuine opportunity as first choice next season, whether as the starter or as genuine competition for whoever comes in. After what we have watched, it feels wrong to simply ship him out on loan in the summer without at least asking whether this kid has earned a shot.
From tears at the Metropolitano to a conversation worth having in August
The Atletico game did not ruin Antonin Kinsky. It may, in the strangest way, have been the making of him. Players who survive moments like that, who do not hide, who come back and perform when the club needs them, tend to be the ones worth building around. We are not saying Kinsky is a finished article. We are saying that what he has shown in the last six weeks, capped by a controlled, assured performance tonight as Spurs held out a 2-1 lead at Villa Park, demands a proper conversation.
It remains to be seen exactly what Tottenham’s goalkeeper situation looks like in August. But Kinsky will head into that conversation with a nomination for Save of the Month, three consecutive clean sheets in a relegation run-in, and the memory of Palhinha, Gallagher and Solanke following him down the tunnel at the Metropolitano. That is a story worth telling. And after a season that has offered precious little to feel good about, we will take it.
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