Pundit saddened by Hugo Lloris’ call at Tottenham as Ange Postecoglou appointed manager

Follow us on Google Discover

Julien Laurens has expressed his disappointment that Hugo Lloris will leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer with one year left on his contract.

The European football expert added that he was hoping Ange Postecoglou would ‘convince’ Hugo Lloris to stay, but it seems as though the 36-year-old has made his own mind up, as he told ESPN.

It has been an error-prone season for Tottenham’s veteran goalkeeper, who retired from France duty after the 2022 World Cup, and is now heading for the Spurs exit door.

After signing from Lyon for £12 million in 2012 (BBC Sport), Lloris has done very well to last over a decade as a Premier League goalkeeper.

But for a number of seasons, his form has started to dip off, there have been far too many mistakes and he has been lucky to keep the number one gloves.

That’s probably why the Spurs captain is leaving 12 months before his contract dictates his situation, but despite all that, Laurens still wanted his fellow countryman to stay on board.

“He still has a year left on his contract and a part of me was hoping that, whoever the next manager is, would convince him to stay,” said Laurens. “Or to give another year, at least. Maybe not as an automatic starter.

“But he confirmed this weekend, he was back in Nice, that he was a ‘new adventure and a new chapter’ in his career. He is 36. He knows that he is close to the end, whether that’s going to the MLS, Saudi or wherever he wants to.

“Maybe back to Nice. I think they would be quite keen to have him back and to just go full circle and finish the career where he started.”

RIGHT CALL FOR LLORIS TO LEAVE

In truth, this should have been done a number of years ago and those in the Tottenham boardroom have to take responsibility.

The form of Lloris was fading for some while, yet the World Cup-winning goalkeeper didn’t have proper competition behind him.

In some cases, the back-up players Spurs would bring in weren’t even good enough to be number two, whilst others were nearly as old as him, so it’s the right call for Lloris to move on.