Alan Hutton believes that reports of Tottenham Hotspur being in talks with Hugo Lloris over a new contract show how highly the Frenchman is thought of in North London.
Around a year or two ago, the Frenchman was starting to make a few mistakes between the sticks in North London.
However, the 33-year-old has been near flawless since returning from his elbow injury earlier this season and it seems that the goalkeeper may have won over Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff with his displays.
It was reported earlier this week that the Spurs boss still sees Lloris as his number one, despite the arrival of Joe Hart, and is keen to tie him down to a new contract.
Hutton admitted that fans might sometimes underestimate the influence some players have in the dressing room and identified Lloris as one such player.
The former Spurs defender told Football Insider: “This is the side that fans don’t see, if you want, the off the field stuff, the helping of the young boys, the go-between between the manager and the squad.
“He’s obviously good at that, that’s why he’s the captain because from the outside looking in he doesn’t look like he’s much of a talker on the pitch. Yes, you see him helping his back four and things.
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“He seems quiet to me but he’s obviously not in the background.”
The Scotland international also backed the former Lyon man to retain his number one spot and see off competition from Hart.
He added: “We know he’s a great keeper, yes he’s made a couple of mistakes last season and he got injured, I do think Hart will push him but he’ll still be the number one.
“It shows you how highly he’s rated in the ranks of Spurs that they’re looking to tie him down.”
Spurs Web Opinion
When Hugo is in the form that he currently is, he is up there with the best shot-stoppers in the world. If Jose is convinced that he has a few years left in him, then I would be happy to see Lloris handed a new contract and remain our number one for the next couple of years. With respect to his leadership, like Kane, Hugo also seems to be relatively quiet and leads by example. It will be interesting to see how influential the Frenchman is in the dressing room in the next few episodes of the Amazon documentary.
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