Fabio Paratici has lavished praise on Hugo Lloris, admitting the goalkeeper is a personification of what one expects from a leader.
Lloris put pen to paper on a new deal with Tottenham in January, committing his future to the club until 2024. Should he fulfil the contract, the goalkeeper would have completed 12 years at Spurs after having signed from Lyon in the summer of 2012.
Paratici has admitted that while he has always been aware of Lloris’ ability, he now appreciates the 35-year-old’s leadership qualities after having worked with him.
When asked about Lloris’ new deal, the Spurs managing director of football told Spurs TV: “When we spoke before about character, mentality and intelligence, about ambition, this is the right example.
“He is our captain and he is the right example for everybody and the right example for the club to give to the dressing room, to give to the fans, that he has signed.
“He’s a really, really good person and a good captain. I’ve known him for a long time so I’m not surprised about his style of play or his level of play.
“But I’m really happy to know him as a person because he is one of those people that you can improve yourself by listening to, to speak to him you can improve a lot.”
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Paratici also spoke about Tottenham’s deadline day departures, insisting that he felt the time was right for Dele Alli to start a fresh chapter away from North London.
When asked about Alli’s move to Everton, he said: “First of all I would like to thank him for his time here. I’m absolutely convinced that it’s the right time for him to have a new challenge and I wish him well and all the best for the future.”
The 49-year-old also stated that the reason that the club decided to let Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Bryan Gil leave on loan, is because the trio wanted more game time.
When asked about the deadline day loan departures, the Italian said: “They need more games. Just this. So no special motivation about it. They just need games and I think they will have in the new clubs.
“They are our players, so our assets and of course, we have to follow them. I repeat, they need just minutes, it’s not about the quality but about the time.”
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Paratici obviously has to be diplomatic in his answers but it is fairly clear that only Gil’s loan was motivated by a lack of game time.
The club evidently wanted to find a buyer for both Ndombele and Lo Celso and they probably realised their chances of getting a decent fee for the pair are higher in the summer if they do well out on loan.
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