Tottenham are reportedly keen on bringing Southampton defender Kyle Walker-Peters back to North London if they fail to strike a deal for Pedro Porro – and Spurs captain Hugo Lloris‘ verdict on the defender from 2019 is encouraging.
Walker-Peters, 25, joined Southampton from Spurs on loan in January 2020. A move was then made permanent, that summer. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg moved the other way, though the deals were not intertwined. Now, Spurs want him.
TalkSPORT claim that Spurs are keeping tabs on the England international. Previous reports from The Mail claim that Spurs boast a buyback clause in a deal for the right-back. That would see Spurs pay £30m for the London-born ace.
Back in 2019, Lloris gave his verdict on Walker-Peters – prior to his move to Southampton. He raved about him, stating he has the “quality” required to play for Spurs but was lacking experience. Something he now has, at Southampton.
“Kyle is not a novice: for a few years now, he’s been working every day with us. He knows exactly the principles and the demands of the gaffer and now he just needs experience,” Spurs captain Lloris told the Evening Standard in 2019.
“He has showed his quality in the last few seasons in training. We all know the difficulty of repeating that in games, but we’ve all seen his potential. Now the most difficult for him is ahead,” Lloris continued, as covered by HITC Sport.
Tottenham keen on Walker-Peters: Lloris verdict from 2019 is encouraging
The fact that Lloris says he has the quality to play for Spurs but lacked experience is proof that he is now ready for his boyhood club. On Wednesday night, he played his 99th game for Southampton – a 2-0 win over Manchester City.
He has now added big experience to his game, the only issue Lloris noted in Walker-Peters. So, with Spurs needing a right wing-back, Walker-Peters is perfect. £30million is a good fee, and he is homegrown at Spurs, helping registration.
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