Who is Destiny Udogie? Career stats, name pronunciation, and wages explained
On paper, Tottenham have a near-flawless defence, and a big part of that is the adventurous full-backs they have down each side. Destiny Udogie is one of them, and he’s an incredibly exciting talent.
Spurs have had a great run of finding top talent in the Italian leagues over the last few years, and Destiny Udogie is a prime example of the kind of hidden gems they have unearthed in Serie A.
The young left-back made quite the impact in his first season in England last year, and he’s started as he means to go on this term, too, offering marauding runs down the left channel and terrorising defences throughout the Premier League.
So, who is Destiny Udogie? We’ve got the lowdown on the Spurs star, including how to say his name, where he came from, and how much the club are paying him.
Destiny Udogie had to wait a year for Spurs debut
Tottenham signed Udogie from Udinese in the summer of 2022, but left him on loan with the Italian club for the season to further his development.
That proved to be a very shrewd decision indeed. The youngster had a brilliant season with Udinese in Serie A, and then arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ready to make an impact.
A year older and wiser, Udogie came in at Spurs at just the right time to link up with Ange Postecoglou, too, thus avoiding the disastrous Antonio Conte era. Under Postecoglou, Udogie has thrived as an attack-minded, inverted full-back.
He provides the perfect balance to Pedro Porro on the right-hand side of the defence, and has proven to be equally as effective in defensive situations as he is in attacking areas.
Udogie missed the backend of last season due to undergoing surgery, and had to be rehabilitated throughout the summer, but he has returned to the starting lineup for the 24/25 campaign without any issues.
Where did Destiny Udogie come from?
Udogie came through the ranks at Hellas Verona before joining Udinese, and then moving to Tottenham in 2022.
He made seven appearances for the Verona first-team before signing for Udinese in 2021, initially on loan and then making that switch permanent.
Udogie made 71 appearances for Udinese, registering eight goals and seven assists (Transfermarkt).
How do you pronounce Destiny Udogie’s name?
Many fans and pundits got Destiny Udogie’s name slightly wrong at first. Destiny is simple enough, but his surname should be pronounced Ooh-dog-ee.
At first people pronounced his name You-doh-gi. The man himself specifically told Football.London the correct way to say his name.
His full name is actually Iyenoma Destiny Udogie. Fun fact: Iyenoma translates as ‘good news’, so you could say it was Udogie’s destiny to bring joy to Tottenham.
Destiny Udogie market value and wages explained
Spurs only spent around £15m on Destiny Udogie, and they would already have made a tidy profit on the youngster, who is valued at roughly £37m.
That’s according to Transfermarkt, and that figure does make sense given how young and full of potential Udogie is. Plus, he has another six years left on his contract, so any transfer away from Spurs would not come cheap.
Udogie’s current deal runs through to the summer of 2030. He was handed an extension last December, and may have been given a pay rise, but the data from Spotrac puts his weekly wage at £45,000, or £2.34m per year.
We would not be surprised to learn that Udogie is on a higher wage now, but that £45,000 per week does put him towards the lower end of Tottenham’s wage bill.
His international career with Italy is taking off
Udogie made his debut for Italy in October 2023 off the back of his fine start to life at Spurs. He played 11 minutes in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Malta, before getting just over an hour under his belt against England a few days later.
Luciano Spalletti gave Udogie his break at international level, and it’s very likely the young defender would have a few more caps to his name were it not for that injury in the tail end of the 23/24 season. There’s a high chance he would have been in Italy’s Euro 2024 squad.
Udogie earned his fourth and fifth caps for Italy in the recent international break. He came on as a substitute in the Nations League games against France and Israel, and even registered a great assist against the former.
Destiny Udogie’s height, weight, age, and family
Udogie is fairly tall, coming in at 1.88m high, and he weighs 73kg. He has a very athletic build, and is able to use his physicality to his advantage when it comes to outmuscling opponents.
He was born in Verona, Italy, on November 28, 2002 and is the youngest first-team regular in Postecoglou’s side.
Udogie may have Italian citizenship, but he also has Nigerian heritage. Discussing why he chose to represent Italy, he told The Italian Football Podcast: “I was born in Italy, so I feel more Italian. I grew up playing with the young players in Italy… I have been in Nigeria but I was very small. I was like two years old so I don’t remember much but I’ve been there.”
For more on the Tottenham first-team squad, check out our profiles on Dominic Solanke and Guglielmo Vicario. Or, you can look back into the past and learn about the greatest Spurs legends to grace North London.
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