Tottenham Hotspur have signed Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa from Spartak Moscow on a season-long loan after the Premier League club decided to take on the 31-year-old as a backup for Heurelho Gomes.

Pletikosa has been at White Hart Lane all summer on trial and was supposed to have joined Spurs last January before failing a medical. With Gomes injured in the club’s last fixture against Young Boys Bern and backup Carlo Cudicini showing little assurance as he allowed Wigan to score a winner on Saturday, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has moved quickly to ensure new competition is brought in to keep the Italian on his toes.

The deal will include an option for Spurs to make the deal permanent at the end of the season.

Pletikosa is a Croatian international who has won 80 caps with his country and will join Spurs’ Croatian contingent which includes Luka Modric, Vedran Corluka and Niko Kranjcar.

Redknapp may thrown Pletikosa right into the fray in his side’s next game at West Bromwich Albion after the international break after growing frustrated with Cudicini’s unsuccessful return from a devastating injury.

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