Why Hugo Lloris Is the 1 Tottenham Player Liverpool Would Love to Have

When Tottenham Hotspur secured the deal to sign Hugo Lloris from Lyon at the end of the summer transfer window in 2012, Liverpool missed a significant opportunity, and when the sides line up against each other at White Hart Lane on Saturday, new Reds manager Jurgen Klopp may realise his predecessor's mistake.

Lloris joined Spurs in a deal worth up to £11.8 million, according to BBC Sport, in a last-ditch outlay that also saw the north London side capture Clint Dempsey from Fulham—spurning former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers' interest in the American.

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But while the Telegraph's Chris Bascombe revealed Rodgers' "despair" after Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group refused to sanction a £7 million deal for the striker, who now plies his trade for MLS outfit Seattle Sounders, Lloris' move remained under the radar.

One year later, and Rodgers signed Simon Mignolet from Sunderland for £9 million, and as Klopp assesses the qualities of his first-team squad heading into Saturday's clash, the Belgian may be flagged as a weakness.

With question marks over Mignolet's long-term suitability on Merseyside, Lloris is the one Spurs player Liverpool would love to have—above Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Heung-Min Son.

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Liverpool's Goalkeeping Situation, 2012

Pepe Reina began the 2012/13 season poorly.

Following on from a worrying campaign under Kenny Dalglish, Reina made high-profile errors in early fixtures against Hearts in the Europa League and Arsenal in the Premier League, highlighting a decline in his concentration and situational judgment.

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This led to reports from the Mirror's Matt Law suggesting Reina had "until ­January to show Brendan Rodgers he can fit into the new Liverpool and stop the club searching for a rival first-choice goalkeeper."

Reina looked uncomfortable employing Rodgers' free-flowing possession game between the defensive line, with his strengths as a Liverpool stopper being his reflexes and command of the penalty area.

Law pointed to Rodgers' interest in then-Swansea City goalkeeper Michel Vorm in flagging Reina's situation at Liverpool, while in December of 2012, BBC Sport relayed that the Reds were also interested in Hannover's Ron-Robert Zieler and England's Jack Butland—who was making his name at Birmingham City at the time.

However, addressing these reports, Rodgers told the BBC that he had faith in the Spaniard:

"

We have been linked with lots of goalkeepers. I have two very good goalkeepers—Pepe Reina and Brad Jones, who is a very loyal and capable number two.

[...]

Reina is clearly our number one goalkeeper, one of the best goalkeepers in the league.

He had a difficult couple of years but for me his best years are ahead of him and his commitment to the cause and what we are trying to achieve is 150 percent.

Pepe has taken on board himself to do a lot of work to get in the best possible state he can be in physically and mentally and I am so happy with him. He is a great man and has been a wonderful player for me in this short period of time, on and off the field.

I can see him starting to get back to the level he set here, which was a really high standard, and hopefully that continues.

"

But errors persisted throughout the campaign, including a misjudged charge from the penalty area that Manchester City's Sergio Aguero capitalised on in a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium, with the Argentinian's late equaliser leaving Rodgers "bitterly disappointed," according to the Independent's Carl Markham. 

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Reina moved to Napoli on loan ahead of the 2013/14 season before joining Bayern Munich on a free transfer the following summer, ending his nine-year association with the Reds.

It was a disappointing end for one of the club's greatest-ever goalkeepers.

In his prime, Reina was a world-class custodian, invoking memories of Liverpool icons Tommy Lawrence and Bruce Grobbelaar: a rare breed of sweeper-keeper, whose impeccable distribution saw him serve as a primary playmaker for the Reds under Rafa Benitez.

But Rodgers made the right choice allowing him to leave. Replacing him with Mignolet, however, was a questionable decision.

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Simon Mignolet

How do you replace an error-plagued goalkeeper who is incapable of performing within a possession-based system? By signing another error-plagued goalkeeper who is incapable of performing within a possession-based system, of course.

"I am delighted that we have been able to sign one of the top goalkeepers in the Barclays Premier League," Rodgers told the club's official website on bringing Mignolet to Merseyside from Sunderland.

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"Simon will join a club that will give him an opportunity to demonstrate and improve his huge talent."

Mignolet had shown his "huge talent" while at the Stadium of Light: ready-made for a relegation dogfight, the Belgian proved adept at performing on the back foot, with his excellent reflexes leading to a number of result-clinching saves for the Mackems following his move from Sint-Truiden in 2010.

Mignolet was one of the most impressive young goalkeepers in the Premier League, and at 25 represented a low-risk gamble for the Reds, with Rodgers earmarking him as capable of making the step up to the top level.

Over his three seasons with the Reds, Mignolet has proved to be an adequate top-level goalkeeper, but as with Reina, his inability to adapt to Rodgers' demands has seen him regress.

A supreme lack of confidence saw him dropped "for an indefinite period," at the end of 2014, as reported by BBC Sport, with Rodgers losing patience with his poor performances.

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Though he regained his position and returned to form towards the end of the campaign—narrowly missing out on the Premier League's Golden Glove award—this was largely due to the manager limiting his game to maximise his talents.

It was one move in a series of moves that saw Rodgers dilute his ideals, eventually leading to his dismissal, with Klopp telling German publication Bild (h/t the Guardian) last week that FSG had tasked him with restoring "a recognisable brand" of football at Anfield.

Rodgers misjudged Mignolet's talent when signing him to replace Reina; ultimately, he missed out on the ideal replacement the previous summer in Lloris.

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Hugo Lloris

Lloris is in his fourth season with Spurs, and it is a credit to the club's chairman, Daniel Levy, that the Frenchman has remained at White Hart Lane for that extended period.

Though Spurs are operating at a similar level to Liverpool, with both sides holding justifiable top-four ambitions, Lloris is a goalkeeper of the highest calibre; capable of claiming the No. 1 shirt at Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, among others.

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At 28 years old, Lloris is a fully formed, world-class goalkeeper. With strong command of his penalty area and the goal line, the Frenchman has kept 34 clean sheets in 106 Premier League games.

Most importantly, as Jonathan Wilson testified in the Guardian last year, Lloris is the Premier League's "supreme sweeper-keeper."

"Although Lloris can pull off the spectacular, his key skill is arguably leaving his line quickly to mop up behind the defence—or, even more significantly, being known to be quick off his line and so dissuading opponents from trying to slide passes behind the defence," Wilson wrote, later aligning Lloris' style of play with that of Lawrence at Liverpool.

"Nicknamed the Flying Pig for the way he would charge from his line, [Lawrence's] willingness to act as an additional defender allowed Liverpool to play with what was, for the time, an aggressively high offside line."

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This is exactly the type of goalkeeper Rodgers needed to implement his risk-heavy defensive philosophy, and it's one Klopp would have cherished, with his Borussia Dortmund side typically employing a high line in defence.

For the time being, Klopp will be required to make do with Mignolet, and while the Belgian is a competent Premier League goalkeeper, the feeling that Liverpool will need to upgrade in order to achieve success is unshakeable.

With this in mind, Lloris would have been the ideal target in 2012, and his presence in goal at White Hart Lane on Saturday will be the subject of envy from many Liverpool supporters.

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