Tottenham want Lazio to pay transfer fee for wantaway goalkeeper Hugo Lloris – report
Tottenham want to receive a transfer fee for goalkeeper Hugo Lloris as Lazio bid to sign him, according to The Mirror.
The newspaper reported via their print edition on Thursday (page 54, 17 August) that the 36-year-old has made attempts to leave Spurs this summer, resulting in Ange Postecoglou stripping him of the captaincy and failing to include him in the pre-season tour of Australia and East Asia.
It is understood that Lazio could offer Lloris an “exit route” from North London but as he has a year left on his contract at Tottenham, the Premier League club wants to receive a transfer fee for him.
Levy plays hardball again
Lloris has done enough for Tottenham over the last decade for him to leave the club on the terms that he wants to.
He’s doing everyone at the club a favour by opting to move on because his performances have without a doubt been worse in the last few seasons.
Last term, Lloris committed four errors that led to goals – the highest in the Premier League.
Guglielmo Vicario has come in and looked solid in his first few games as the Tottenham goalkeeper so there’s not really any reason to cling onto Lloris longer than needed.
The Times reported on 10 May that Lloris is currently earning around £100,000-a-week on his contract at Spurs, a figure that soon adds up to a lot of money if he doesn’t leave before the transfer window closes on 1 September.
One possibility is for Lloris to have his contract severed after the transfer window shuts so that he can become a free agent and sign for whoever he likes.
Daniel Levy played hardball over Harry Kane before eventually caving in and letting him join Bayern Munich.
Spurs’ chairman has a knack for protracting transfer sagas a lot longer than they need to be.
He may be arguing over the football equivalent of pennies when it comes to what fee Lazio need to pay Spurs for Lloris but in doing all that, he’s wasting money on Lloris’ wages when the France World Cup-winning captain isn’t in the first-team picture for Postecoglou.
Lloris deserves a chance to finish his career elsewhere. Levy needs to let him.
In other Tottenham news, Spurs must sacrifice youth development this season if they are to win a rare trophy this season.