Why Tottenham Can't Afford to Lose Hugo Lloris This Summer

Tottenham Hotspur were 3-0 up against Manchester United when Kyle Walker and Memphis Depay got into one of those needless football altercations. The sadly regular occurrence of the inability to deal with a bit of contact manifesting as machismo.

Walker's captain Hugo Lloris was not the only one to intervene, but there was a promptness and watchfulness about the goalkeeper shepherding his defender away. As usual, he had a team-mate's back.

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It was just one of many recent reminders of Lloris' importance to Tottenham (a brilliant display in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool another). His well-earned status as a reliable and quietly heroic leader contributes heavily to why the club cannot afford to lose him this summer.

OK, it is safe to say Spurs do not want to part with top scorer Harry Kane or emerging midfield star Dele Alli either. Nor many others from their Premier League title-challenging squad.

But unlike with Lloris, there is less lingering trepidation over the short-term futures of these players.

Kane is the local-boy-turned-beloved-club-hero, living out a fantasy he will be in little rush to end. At least so long as the team he is spearheading continues to challenge for honours.

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Alli is well aware there are few better environments for his development than under youth-friendly head coach Mauricio Pochettino's watchful eye. "I have to give a lot of thanks to the manager here and the staff for putting their trust in me and helping me improve," the 20-year-old told Tottenham's official website this week.

No regularly starting player's contract is set to expire this summer, including Lloris', whose current deal—signed in 2014—is until 2019.

But aged 29, there is an extra urgency to his desire to achieve. A hunger, coupled with his status as one of the world's best in his job, that has informed previous hints a transfer to a stronger and arguably better-positioned challenger would not be off the cards.

Last summer, speculation was rife Manchester United had targeted him to replace the seemingly Real Madrid-bound David de Gea, per Sky Sports.

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The latter move did not realise, so Lloris stayed—as Pochettino last season repeatedly said he was going to anyway. But the France international's talk of Champions League ambitions, per Sky Sports News HQ, understandably raised eyebrows and had fans on alert.

Tottenham's appreciable improvement this season will conversely raise hopes little drama relating to Lloris is waiting in the coming months (even if there is movement among his fellow 'keepers elsewhere). That their progression has allayed fears he is wasting his time in the capital.

The north Londoners are set to secure Champions League football for the first time in the Frenchman's stay. The title may prove elusive, but a second-place finish would still be an excellent achievement for a predominantly young, previously unfancied team.

The fact is that Lloris has invested plenty in this group's development and looks to have been enjoying himself plenty too.

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His performances in goal have been as timely and dependable as ever, backing his defence as they have become the division's stingiest (25 conceded, five less than the next best team here, Manchester United).

Underpinning this is a leadership glimpsed in moments like the Walker incident but—Paul Doyle's excellent profile in the Guardian detailed—best seen in the performances of a team working well to live up to their keeper's standards.

Speaking prior to the win over Man United, former Tottenham and England great Ray Clemence was particularly glowing about the level Lloris is operating at. He told the Spurs' official website:

"

Hugo has been outstanding all year, one of the top goalkeepers out there, captain of the team and makes vital saves at vital times and that gives the team the chance to go on and win the game. You will see any goalkeeper make a great save but the team might be 3-0 down and it won't really matter. Hugo is a goalkeeper who makes that save when it's 0-0 or when you are winning 1-0 or even losing 1-0, but make a great save that will enable the team to go on and get something.

"

Though not a definitive statement of his intentions, Lloris has suggested he wants to remain part of the Pochettino project.

"We have a winning mentality, and that's good—not just for this season, but for the future as well," he said to his club's official website post-Liverpool.

Pochettino and Tottenham will hope Lloris is indeed part of that future. Their chances of building on and sustaining their 2015-16 improvements increase considerably if the influential skipper is.

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