Antonin Kinsky demonstrated exactly why Ange Postecoglou had no qualms about throwing him in at the deep end for Tottenham's Carabao Cup-semi final tie against Liverpool. Having only just joined Spurs from Slavia Prague on Sunday morning in a £12.5million deal, some head coaches may have had their doubts about starting a new player with the ink barely dry on their contract.

Postecoglou isn't like that, though, with Micky van de Ven's debut at Brentford in August 2023 a prime example that the boss has no concerns starting his signings even if they have limited time on the training ground beforehand. Brandon Austin was rather unfortunate not to start again following a really good showing on his competitive debut for the club last weekend but Kinsky proved to all exactly why he was selected ahead of his new teammate in the 1-0 win.

Very much the perfect goalkeeper for Postecoglou's style of play due to his confidence and ability on the ball, that was there for all to see as Tottenham claimed the advantage going into the second leg on Merseyside at the beginning of February. In an awkward position early on with a difficult bouncing ball just outside the area as Diogo Jota closed him down, the 21-year-old calmly lifted it over the Liverpool man's head inside his box before taking it in his hands.

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Kinsky then showed his range of passing with a wonderful long ball that released Son Heung-min, who in turn linked up with Dominic Solanke to create a Tottenham opening just prior to half-time. Postecoglou liked what he saw from his new man and duly applauded him for his piece of play.

There was to be more applause for Kinsky from the boss in the closing minutes of the contest despite his long pass not coming off. Postecoglou was clearly a fan of the Czech ace's intentions and let his feelings be known.

In terms of saves, Kinsky frustrated Liverpool across the 90 minutes, most notably substitute Darwin Nunez on a couple of occasions in the closing minutes of the first leg. There was perhaps one slight scare in the first half as he gathered Cody Gakpo's powerful drive at the second time of asking after initially fumbling his attempt from distance.

It was no surprise to see the goalkeeper embraced by his Tottenham teammates come the full-time whistle after delivering such an impressive display on his Spurs bow. The TV cameras even picked up an emotional moment involving the shot-stopper and his family as he jumped into the crowd to greet them, with his sister in tears as they took everything in.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the January signing revealed that he found out on Tuesday that there was a chance of him starting in net and he immediately called his family to let them know. His parents, sister and her boyfriend all made the trip over to London and it was certainly worthwhile going on his dream debut at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Having started his night by signing autographs for supporters when walking out to take part in the team's pre-match walk, the ex-Dukla Prague player finished his night by doing exactly the same as his new fans waited for him by the tunnel as the players headed back inside. The club's decision to spend £12.5million on the youngster is already looking like money well spent and possibly quite the transfer bargain if he continues to go from strength to strength in a Spurs shirt.

Speaking to Flashscore in an exclusive interview, Viktor Kolar, the player's agent, opened up on behind-the-scenes details of Kinsky's transfer and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy's big role in the deal.

"Slavia is a tough and fair negotiator. It was very fair, but on the other hand very difficult and tough," explained Kolar. "We even got into a situation where Mr Tvrdik [Slavia’s chairman] said 'I want to do it' but he was not willing to give in.

"On the other side was Daniel Levy who said he was also interested in doing it and completing the transfer but he was not willing to give in either and so it turned out that sometimes even those personal meetings really break the ice and those people can find consensus better."

A move that was officially confirmed on Sunday morning, the deal all came together following the work between the clubs over New Year.

"Our team was still sitting at a petrol station in Prague until almost 10pm of December 31, because everything was closed on New Year's Eve and the subsequent development was that on the 1st of January, Daniel Levy flew in himself and the two-day negotiations in Prague began. He had Johan Lange with him," explained Kinsky's representative.

"The negotiations were intense, stretching late into the night. But it worked, and I’m happy about that. It was a beautiful test to see if people and organizations this dominant can find their way to each other."

He added: "Tottenham trusted Kinsky, and the whole team of people in that recruitment department, which includes chief scout Rob Mackenzie and his 11 people, so they agreed on Toni as one of the two players. They all raised their hand and voted from zero to ten for him (all ten).

"The fact that [Guglielmo] Vicario got injured helped. They described and presented to us how well they know Antonin, how his way of playing suits Tottenham's game, their game model that they want to implement and what Ange Postecoglou is promoting. So we were convinced that this was the right step.

"He also had the opportunity to talk about the transfer with people who are close to him and who have achieved something in life and sport, and one of them was Petr Cech, so we preferred this scenario. Toni can consult things with Petr, and talk about the goalkeeping stuff.

"They have supported young players for a long time. Actually, the guarantor is Daniel Levy, who actively promotes and plays young players."

Opting to sign stars of the future in recent transfer windows, Kinsky wasn't the only starlet to shine as Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall once again played huge roles for the team. Spurs' results may have been so up and down this season but Wednesday evening was another reminder of why the club were so keen to bring the talented trio to the club in the first place.

It was very much a debut to remember for Kinsky and Tottenham fans now cannot wait to see even more of him in the weeks and months ahead.

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