Tottenham identify Edouard Mendy as Lloris replacement
Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has emerged as a contender to replace Hugo Lloris at Tottenham Hotspur, according to latest report.
Lloris’s deal with the Lilywhites does not run out until the summer of 2024, but the Frenchman is being tipped to depart this summer on the back of an error-strewn season.
The 36-year-old has made four mistakes directly leading to a goal in the current top-flight season – more than any other player – and only David de Gea has made as many errors across all competitions from players in the Premier League.
Lloris will also miss Spurs’ final two fixtures of the Premier League season due to a hip injury, leading to the consensus that the World Cup winner has played his final game for the club amid reports of a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia.
With Lloris on the sidelines, summer arrival Fraser Forster is deputising for Spurs until the end of the season, while Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman are also waiting in the wings for a first-team breakthrough.
Whiteman and Austin have just one senior Tottenham appearance between them, though, and at 35 years old, Forster is not seen as a long-term successor to Lloris either.
According to The Sun, Spurs have now added Chelsea’s Mendy to their list of goalkeeping targets amid uncertainty surrounding the Senegal international’s future.
A challenging 2022-23 campaign for Mendy has seen the 31-year-old lose his number one status to Kepa Arrizabalaga, while he also missed 17 games across all tournaments with a fractured finger between December and April.
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Mendy was back in between the sticks for last weekend’s clash with Nottingham Forest – his first Premier League start since before the World Cup – but he failed to cover himself in glory, as Taiwo Awoniyi headed into an empty net after the Chelsea keeper came for a cross and missed.
Chelsea are believed to be open to letting Mendy leave this summer, having seen their offer of a six-year contract renewal rejected by the ex-Rennes man, as they try to raise money through a plethora of player sales.
The 31-year-old – who won the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal last year – has kept 49 clean sheets in 105 matches for Chelsea since joining in a €24m (£20.8m) deal in the summer of 2020.
Meanwhile, Lloris has 151 clean sheets to boast from 447 games during his 11-year stay with Tottenham, although he has not won a major trophy with the North London club.