'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Late in the afternoon of July 9, Hugo Lloris, recently returned from his French exertions at the World Cup, was sitting in an anteroom at White Hart Lane, preparing for a meeting with Daniel Levy, Tottenham Hotspur’s notriously ambitious chairman.
He had arrived in the belief that he would fully address his grave concerns and express his indomitable desire to grace the golden stage of the Champions League one day.A sense of disillusion had developed within Lloris, the belief that his personal ambitions were of more loft than those of his club. French champions Paris Saint-Germain had publicly courted the Frenchman, extolling of the great acquisition he would prove to be, the final piece in an expensive Parisian jigsaw. He thought he would force his way out of Spurs, manoeuvre a return to his revered homeland. Lloris was ambitious, and Tottenham, he believed, were sufficiently not.
The Parisian attraction
The prospect of a transfer to PSG was all too great. Supported by the wealth of Qatari group Qatar Sports Investments, Laurent Blanc’s Parisians were making French football their personal fiefdom, broadening their horizons to the prestige of the Champions League; finishing the season as quarter-finalists having been narrowly eliminated by Chelsea, Lloris’s London rivals. Blanc was a familiar figure for the Spurs keeper, having worked with the former France captain with the national team. Blanc had nominated Lloris as skipper for the 2012 European Championships and the Spurs keeper was aware of the glory which awaited him was he to make the move. PSG had lodged a £16 million bid, and alarmed, Levy had called an emergency meeting.
For one, the Tottenham chairman knew Lloris was settled in London with his wife Marine and daughter Anna-Rose. Mauricio Pochettino had recently been appointed Tim Sherwood’s replacement and the Argentinian represented hope, having asserted his attractive philosophy upon Southampton. Levy sold Lloris a dream, of renewed ambition under Pochettino’s stewardship, of free-flowing football to grace White Hart Lane.
Disillusion
It has not gone to plan thus far but Lloris is still shining, still endearing himself to the Lane with performances of mercurial excellence amid adversity. The Frenchman has indisputably been Spurs’ standout performer this season, though his story of discontent will make for painful reading within the avenues which lead to Tottenham High Road.
“We need to find the confidence again in our game,” he bemoaned. “All the teams who come here (White Hart Lane) know how to play against us. They all stay behind and play on the counter-attack. We know that we have a style that is a lot of short passing and sometimes that can bring one or two opportunities for our opponents.
“We need to resolve this problem and be more firm on the pitch and try to find confidence again. You can lose games, but you need to show on the pitch from the beginning to the end that you have no regrets. The last few games at home we left the pitch with a lot of regrets.”
Tottenham have developed a reputation of selling their most prized assets, those who have become disillusioned with the club’s ineptitude to qualify for the Champions League – a stage of gargantuan splendour – and have moved to Europe’s elite where their lucrative needs are satisfied, as Real Madrid stars Luka Modric and Gareth Bale would attest.
Michel Vorm’s acquisition from Swansea City in the summer suggests the Spurs hierarchy were anticipating PSG to amplify their interest in Lloris. The Frenchman is highly sought-after though, and it may be merely a matter of time before he seeks challenges of increased glamour.
His sense of exasperation thus far this season is all too clear, rescuing Tottenham from ignominy once again against Crystal Palace on Saturday. Palace deserved to win, had it not been for Lloris’s heroics, producing two fabulous stops to thwart Yannick Bolasie and Scott Dann and hailed as “fantastic” by Palace boss Warnock.
His story of discontent, however, will make painful reading for Tottenham in times of adversity.
