Real Madrid’s search for a new goalkeeper has now led them to North London, as the Los Blancos are prepared to pay £35 million for Tottenham Hotspur custodian Hugo Lloris .
Real Madrid have been looking for a new goalkeeper for a year now, after having failed to sign Manchester United custodian David De Gea, due to their failure to file certain paperwork on the August 2015 transfer deadline day. Since then, De Gea has gone on to sign a contract extension with Manchester United and has also pledged his future to the club. Marid, meanwhile, have also dropped interest in the player.
The Los Blancos have also been linked with a move for Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The Belgium international is said to have fallen out with Blues’s goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon over the Frenchman’s training techniques. He had reportedly communicated to incoming manager Antonio Conte that he wanted to leave the club if Lollichon remains.
Conte is said to be willing to keep Courtois at the Stamford Bridge, and recent reports suggest that the 46-year-old is looking to replace Lollichon with Italy goalkeeping coach Gianluca Spinelli.
With Courtois looking like he will stay back at Chelsea for now, Real Madrid have turned their attention towards Tottenham Hotspur and France no.1 Hugo Lloris. According to a report in English newspaper the Daily Mirror, the Los Blancos are prepared to part with £35 million, in order to sign Lloris.
However, it remains to be seen whether Lloris shows interest in Real Madrid, as the Frenchman had confessed earlier this year, to enjoying working under a manager like Mauricio Pochettino, who has transformed Spurs into serious Premier League title contenders.
“I’ve flourished completely here. I can even say that since the arrival of Pochettino I found new benchmarks,” Lloris had said earlier this year.
Is Lloris a better choice than De Gea and Courtois?
Hugo Lloris is undoubtedly one of the best goalkeepers in the world right now. The Spurs custodian has gone on to become the highest capped French goalkeeper in the Premier League era, with 136 league appearances for Tottenham, leading former Manchester United keeper Fabian Barthez by 44 games. Lloris has been a constant in front of the Spurs’s goal, providing stability for the last four years now.
Although his age (29) might become a bit of a drawback for interested clubs, but being a goalkeeper, Lloris easily has at least another five years in him to compete at the highest level. The one aspect that makes the Spurs’s goalkeeper a much better choice than the other two is the fact that he is likely to come much cheaper. According to Transfermarkt, Lloris would cost less than both De Gea and Courtois,.