Tottenham Hotspur Women are finally starting to make some transfer moves with a month and a half before the new WSL season. Already this week Spurs have announced the loan signing of Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton and the signing of Finland midfielder Olga Ahtinen who penned her deal yesterday. That’s in addition to Swiss defender Luana Bühler, who signed ahead of the World Cup.
Now — another one! Spurs announced this morning the signing of Czech international and former PSG Femenil goalkeeper Barbora Votikova.
We are delighted to announce the signing of Barbora Votíková
— Tottenham Hotspur Women (@SpursWomen) August 17, 2023
“It’s a big honor to leave a Czech mark here in this league,” she said in her club interview — starting off with a fantastic Dad Joke™ is a real power move and I think I love her already. Votikova, 26, was a starter and primary keeper for a PSG side that finished second to powerhouse Lyon in 2021-22, but suffered a serious knee injury in May of 2022 that kept her out for a long time. She saw her playing time drop significantly last season even after her return from injury — she slipped down behind Sarah Bouhaddi and Constance Picaud and only appeared in one game. She left PSG at the conclusion of her contract this past June. Votikova is also a full international, with 38 appearances for the Czech Republic.
It’s hard to get a sense of how good a player Votikova really is, but she was good enough to sign for and play major minutes in one season with PSG, a very good club, and it seems like the ACL injury really derailed her career. I honestly don’t hate the idea of snaffling up some players on the fringes of the best European clubs, which seems to be what we’ve done here. Maybe she didn’t make it at one of the best clubs in the world, but that doesn’t mean she can’t be a good player at Tottenham.
Votikova is coming in as a replacement for outgoing keeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela, who left Spurs this summer to sign for AS Roma, and like Korpela she should provide some solid competition for Jamaica keeper Becky Spencer, who is coming off an excellent World Cup.
Spurs have a huge uphill battle ahead of them this season after finishing 9th in the league and barely escaping relegation and vastly underperforming their ability. I don’t want to overstate this signing — I don’t see a scenario where Votikova is what propels Tottenham in contention back near the top of the table or anything. But I think with this signing, along with the other three this summer and the intentions of new manager Robert Vilahamn, you can sorta-kinda squint and see the shape of a team starting to emerge.
Cautious optimism? Well, maybe very cautious. But I’d rather be optimistic while there’s still time in the window to make further improvements. Choose hope.
