BBC pundit reacts to Spurs star Destiny Udogie's display for Italy against England

Tottenham Hotspur defender Destiny Udogie earned praise from BBC Sport pundit Matthew Upson for his latest international efforts.

The Spurs star has been going from strength to strength in recent years, and is now a full Italy international.

Udogie quickly broke into the Tottenham starting XI under Ange Postecoglou and has helped Spurs go top of the Premier League table.

And for Italy, the 20-year-old Spurs gem made his debut last week, getting 11 minutes off the bench in the Euro 2024 qualifying win over Malta.

On Tuesday, Udogie started for Italy against England at Wembley, and gave a great account of himself.

His first-half efforts alone prompted Upson to sing his praises on BBC Radio 5 Live, via the BBC Sport website.

“We’ve touched on him a couple of times in this first half already, Destiny Udogie,” he said, just before half-time.

“He’s just shown there exactly why he has started tonight.

“Such a driving run, bursting forward with such energy. Coming into the box from the left and doing a few one-twos.

“Just brings another dimension to this Italy side.”

Udogie came off just after the hour mark as Italy went on to lose 3-1 to Gareth Southgate’s charges.

Our view

When Tottenham signed Udogie last year, several footballing figures including Fabrizio Romano were tipping him for stardom.

As per the terms of the deal, he stayed put at Udinese last season. Now, we’re finally seeing how good he is in a Tottenham shirt.

Indeed, Spurs legend legend Micky Hazard recently backed Udogie to become the best Lilywhites left-back of all time.

He’s going from strength to strength and, at just 20 years of age, it’s frightening to think how much better he can get.