Tottenham are no longer that renowned selling club they once were, and that’s evident in the way they have been able to tie down some of their best players to improved contracts of recent. Gone are the days when Manchester United came shopping at the north London club almost every other transfer window in a bid to lure their best players to the Old Trafford.
From Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier, Christian Eriksen to Danny Rose and most recently club’s skipper Hugo Lloris, Spurs have demonstrated how serious they are in terms of building a project which can stand the test of time and the juicy offers of the big-spending suitors, assembling a team capable of mounting solid title challenges every other season in the process.
The club’s latest contract extension which saw Lloris put pen to paper for a new deal that will keep him at the White Hart Lane until 2022 is undoubtedly as good as a new signing for Spurs, and there are a lot of reasons as to why. Even Tottenham’s manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted the deal is the biggest step forward he has made since joining the club as manager.
Lloris arrived the White Hart Lane in the summer of 2012 from Lyon while Andre Villas-Boas was still in charge, and has since established himself as one of the most important players of the club while also becoming the captain and leader of the dressing room in the process. The leadership the 29-year-old goalkeeper provides and the respect he commands are equal to none, and that ability to keep the team united, instilling a level of togetherness and resilience is what Hugo brings to the table.
Those apart, Lloris remains one of the best goalies in between the sticks in the English Premier League and in the world at large. The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) recently announced its top 13 goalkeepers for 2016, and the Tottenham’s goal custodian is number 7th on it – only behind Manchester United’s David De Gea of the English Premier League shot-stoppers that made the list.
Lloris has remained the perfect last line in a defence system that is hard to break down easily, and at 29, he is only beginning to get better considering it’s the age goalkeepers start to near their peak. And Tottenham can be rest assured they wouldn’t have any sorts of problem in that area as they have him until at least when he is 35.
So, even while being in his 5th year at the club can only mean he has gotten all the needed top-flight goalkeeping experience needed, with more of it to come, this highly reflex-enhanced stopper can go ahead to become the best in the world. He has 152 Premier League appearances to his name already, and has bailed the team out on numerous occasions with his superb saves. But it’s only the tip of the iceberg now.
Having become the 14th Tottenham player to sign a contract extension this year, Lloris’ renewal isn’t just as good as a new signing for Spurs, it’s much more (better) than that, and it won’t be surprising if the France international skipper lifts a Premier League title at the White Hart Lane soon.