Should Tottenham Hotspur Be Concerned About Hugo Lloris’ Contract?

There are reports coming out that Hugo Lloris has turned down a contract extension with Tottenham Hotspur, should Spurs fans be concerned? Not yet.

Tottenham Hotspur have been working to build the team that coach Juse Mourinho wants since the Portuguese manager has arrives at Hotspur Way. That includes signing his core players to contract extensions, which makes the idea of Hugo Lloris being extended unsurprising. However, there are reports that Spurs French Captain has turned down an extension, creating some doubt around his future. With Lloris getting older and Mauricio Pochettino now at PSG, should Spurs be worried that Lloris has not agreed to an extension?

Tottenham Not Worried Yet

Despite the report that Hugo Lloris has declined what was termed a “lucrative contract offer” by Football Insider. What exactly lucrative is we do not know, nor do we know the other key number, which is years. Given Lloris’ age, he may only have one or two ‘big’ contracts left, so he needs to be smart about what he does next. All this said, there are several reasons Spurs fans should not be worried about Hugo Lloris’ future, yet.

Contracts are a Negotiation

When it comes to players and contracts, players rarely just take the first opportunity available, as agents and players alike work to maximize their earning potential. Given the sides are in the process of talking and given the new potential leverage for Hugo with PSG, there is no reason to just take the first offer.

Whether it is over years, money, or both expect a negotiation to occur. Even fans knowing about the offer and Lloris turning it down are part of the negotiation. Whether it was the club or the agent leaking the information, it was leaked to create buzz and generate leverage one way or another.

Now if the report was that Lloris walked away from negotiations, we might feel differently. However, the report said, that Tottenham and Lloris are “set for further talks”. Given there is still communication this is no big concern.

Hugo Still Has a Full Season Left

While we know from the Christian Eriksen saga that the final year of a player’s contract can be problematic. Teams want to cash in on players who are not going to resign with the club and that cannot happen when they are out of contract. Eriksen was different that Lloris for many reasons, but the fact is Hugo still has another season after this one on the books at the club.

While Danny Rose has had one last season at the club, even if he has not signed a new deal by the start of next season, Hugo Lloris will not be banished from the squad. Rather, the team is going to continue to negotiate and work with Hugo to create something that makes sense for the team or move on no sooner than 1 year from now.

Pochettino can be Hugo’s best friend in the world, but Lloris is going nowhere in this window and likely not anywhere anytime soon after that.

Lloris Watching the Team

I imagine part of the negotiation is Lloris weighing his options and watching the team. It is one thing for a 34-year-old keeper to play for say Manchester City where Ederson makes one or two saves a match, tops. However, over the last season plus at Tottenham, Hugo Lloris gets plenty of work. While José Mourinho is not necessarily inviting shots, his more defensive approach does encourage the other team.

At this point in his career, besides winning trophies, Hugo Lloris has to be thinking about where he is going to have the best chance to succeed. I think we all can agree the teams PSG face in France are a notch below most of the week-in-week-out competition in the Premier League. Add-in a dominating team and you can see Lloris wanting to finish behind a strong Paris defense.

All that said, Lloris has played more than 300 matches for Tottenham and is one of the club’s all-time greats at this point. Lloris is here to win a trophy or two and one would imagine if he leaves without winning one or more, he will feel incomplete. Maybe that is what he is waiting to see, is this the season where they finally win a trophy so he can leave with a clean heart? Or maybe this is the year they finally win a trophy and now he stays to defend it.

Either way, just like a trophy is not coming for several months for anyone, do not expect a decision on Hugo Lloris for several months. Unless we hear negotiations are over, that is all that is happening negotiations and if they are continuing, we should feel good about the chances that Hugo Lloris remains a Tottenham Hotspur for the foreseeable future.