Jamie O’Hara believes it is time for Tottenham Hotspur to look beyond Hugo Lloris and added that David Raya would be a significant upgrade on the Frenchman.
The timing of Lloris’ knee injury, which is expected to keep him out of action until mid-April (Telegraph), is far from ideal for the goalkeeper, who was seemingly playing for his future at Spurs.
The 36-year-old has been a fantastic servant to the North London club but multiple outlets have indicated that the Lilywhites are expected to sign his successor in the summer (Daily Mail).
O’Hara told Grosvenor Sport about Tottenham’s captain: “Hugo Lloris has been an unbelievable servant to the football club, he deserves everyone’s respect for what he’s done, but there does come a point where you do need to invest in someone new and we’ll see who that is.
“Fraser Forster has come in, he was just a backup for Lloris and I think he always knew that. But I do think Spurs need to look at someone to replace Lloris properly and there are plenty of good goalkeepers out there. It needs to be someone with good distribution.”
One of the names reportedly on Tottenham’s shortlist to replace Lloris is Raya (Football.London), whose current contract at Brentford has just 16 months left to run.
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The Spaniard admitted in a recent interview with The Athletic that he had turned down two contract offers from the Bees and opened up on his ambitions to play in Europe.
O’Hara believes that signing the 27-year-old would be a no-brainer for Spurs and also added that Illan Meslier could become a tempting option for Antonio Conte’s men if Leeds go down.
The former Spurs midfielder added: “I think they should go for Brentford keeper David Raya or Illan Meslier from Leeds this summer as Hugo Lloris’ long-term replacement.
“David Raya has been brilliant at Brentford, and I don’t think Brentford will be able to keep hold of him.
“Tottenham want to play out from the back, everyone wants to play out from the back, and I think Hugo Lloris in the past has been let down by his distribution, so Raya from Brentford, I’d take him tomorrow for that reason. I think he’s brilliant.
“And the Leeds keeper Meslier, he has something about him. He’s good with his feet too. If Leeds go down, I think Meslier could be another one for Tottenham to target.”
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Raya would tick a lot of boxes for Spurs as he is good with the ball at his feet, would be relatively inexpensive due to his contract situation and has Premier League experience under his belt.
So, one would expect the Spaniard to be near the top of Tottenham’s goalkeeping wishlist.
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