The next few weeks will tell if Hugo Lloris’ counter with Tottenham will remain stuck at 361 Premier League games, a record in club history. His last appearance on a pitch dates back to April 23. Captain abandoned by an openwork defense to the four winds, not irreproachable either, he then conceded 5 goals in twenty minutes against Newcastle at Saint James’ Park before giving up his position, through injury, at the break (6-1). This Friday the sentence fell without amenity. Victim of a tear in one of the tendons of the quadriceps of the thigh, the 36-year-old world champion will not play again by the end of the season.
At a time when Harry Kane’s partners, relegated to a modest 7th place in the league, are preparing to undergo a serious restructuring, with the implicit appointment of a new coach, bets are flourishing concerning Lloris. His priority is first to heal himself in order to be operational for the pre-season. Between now and then, according to our information, he is very likely to meet leaders with whom he has forged, over more than a decade, close relations based on trust and mutual respect. His future will be on the menu for discussion when his contract ends on June 30, 2024. “Honestly, between now and July, many things can happen and no hypothesis can be ruled out,” says someone close to the case.
He will not return to Nice
Backed by his last year of contract, this competitor, coupled with a great professional, is still ambitious. If he will not fight too much, the time to write the epitaph of his career will obviously wait a little longer. Last January, when announcing his international retirement, he was unequivocal on this subject. “I want to continue to perform, to live this sport as I have always done, and maybe this decision will give me more freshness in the club, I don’t know, he confided in the Team. But I want to live these years to come to the fullest, and to the highest. “Since this speech, he has not changed his guideline.
To continue at Tottenham? Nothing is set in stone. One thing seems certain. If he continues in the Premier League, joined in 2012 from Lyon, he will not look elsewhere and will then honor his contractual commitment with the Spurs. As indicated by The Athletic, they are currently prospecting to recruit a goalkeeper. The names of David Raya (Brentford) and Dean Henderson (Nottingham Forest) are circulating. At his best level, Lloris is big enough to face or even reject this competition. The feelings of the successor to Ryan Mason, the interim coach of the Londoners, will inevitably weigh in on this sensitive issue. In the event of a departure from England, he will not return to Nice, where it all started for him on October 26, 2005 against Châteauroux in the Coupe de la Ligue.
A start to the year 2023 to forget
On the other hand, the man with 145 caps and 728 professional matches would not be reluctant to live a last experience in another championship. While waiting to see more clearly about his future, he is already turning his back without regret on a delicate start to the year 2023. Arrested for two months between February and April for a knee injury, he was also guilty of some unusual blunders, notably during the home defeat against Aston Villa (0-2, January 1) then before Arsenal (0 -2, January 15). He had, however, shone in the success at Manchester City, 1-0, on February 5. Illustration of a goalkeeper then plagued by doubt, he is the Premier League player who has committed the most errors resulting in a goal (4)… A hardly flattering statistic, but so little representative, in reality, of the career of this Tottenham monument.
