Spurs: Is Hugo Lloris really worth £16m?
New Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas is busy getting ready for the new season and one area that he is keen to reinforce is the man between the sticks. Lyon and French international Hugo Lloris is the man reportedly on his radar but the French side are playing hard ball and are not willing to let their number one leave unless Spurs cough up £16 million.
But is he really worth that?
Top class goalkeepers are hard to find and the men with the gloves (no I'm not talking about Pascal Chimbonda here) can be the difference between winning and losing. They have to possess excellent powers of concentration, brilliant reflexes, be brave and a little bit crazy. Unfortunately Spurs need another goalkeeper as Brad Friedel is now in his 41st year and Heurleho Gomez is that crazy he thought comedian Alan Carr was the Queen of England!
Friedel can still do a job for Spurs. He hardly put a foot wrong last season, but I can understand why AVB would like to have someone else in there. However, is Lloris really worth the gamble?
£16 million would make Loris the third most expensive goalkeeper in the world behind Gianluigi Buffon - £32.6m - and David De Gea - £18m. You can't take anything away from Buffon. He is a World Cup winner and has won it all in his native Italy. At 34, he still has plenty of years at the highest level in him. De Gea had a difficult start to life at Old Trafford, but he turned in some fine displays in the second half of the season and can only get better.
Lloris is highly regarded in his homeland. He has been named Goalkeeper of the Year in three of the past four seasons, has represented his country from Under-18 level and is captain of the full side. However, he only has two medals in his trophy cabinet. One was for the French Cup last season, the other was for being a part of the French Under-19 European champions in 2005.
The 25-year-old obviously wants to win trophies and he may be craving a fresh challenge across the English Channel.
Lloris is a top goalkeeper. His reactions are first class, he has an amazing reach and for such a skinny guy he is remarkably brave, desperate to prevent the ball going in with any part of his body. As this YouTube compilation will testify.
However, would he be able to adapt to life in the Premier League? It took David De Gea a number of months before he started to prove the doubters wrong and we all remember the antics of Lloris's fellow countryman Fabien Barthez at Manchester United.
But at 25, Lloris has more than a decade ahead of him. Would £16 million now be such an outrageous figure for a guy who captains his national side and has played 37 times for his country? Of course that money could be spent elsewhere on the team, but having two top class goalkeepers to choose from could be the difference between winning and losing this season.
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Calling all Spurs fans: Would you pay £16 million for a goalkeeper? Have you seen Lloris in action? Were you impressed? Do you think AVB would be better off using that money on new defenders or do you think Lloris is the right man for the job? Whatever your views, we'd love to hear from you.
