Thursday, March 28, 2024

Pochettino plays down Lloris link

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has insisted reports that Hugo Lloris could leave the club for Manchester United this summer are merely rumours.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has insisted reports that Hugo Lloris could leave the club for Manchester United this summer are merely rumours.

The France international, who joined Spurs from French Ligue 1 giants Olympique Lyonnais for an initial fee of €10 million in the summer of 2012, wants to play UEFA Champions League football, and Tottenham are extremely unlikely to be involved in the competition next season.

“I think [the report about Lloris] is a rumour and I do not have any comment, Pochettino said.

“I do not want to speak about rumours, about Hugo or other players. We are focused and we try to finish the season as best as possible. That rumour is impossible to stop but we need to accept it is part of the game.

“In football it is difficult. You never know. If you sign the contract, you never have the guarantee. I have a contract and so do a lot of managers but there is never guarantee.

“But it is true if I want some player to stay with us I fight a lot.”

Lloris, 28, has kept  just six clean sheets in 31 English Premier League appearances for Spurs in 2014/15. He is contracted to White Hart Lance until 30 June 2019. 

 

Sako likely to leave Wolves

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Kenny Jackett believes he will lose star winger Bakary Sako this summer.

Having just missed out on a place in the Sky Bet Championship play-offs on goal difference, Jackett is expecting Sako to seek pastures new when the transfer window re-opens in July, and rightly so.

The Mali international, 27, will likely attract interest from several clubs in England and abroad, after an impressive 2014/15 with Wolves in which he bagged 14 goals and seven assists in 41 league appearances.

 

“It does look like he will have offers from both home and abroad that will tempt him,” Jackett said. “He has been a good player for me and I felt that it would be a big finish for him. I could sense that, and that there would be some goals and a big effort. In terms of a talent, he is a good all-round footballer.

“He knows that we would like to keep him, but to be honest it does look unrealistic.”

Jackett added: “Before the game we knew that getting into the top six looked possible, not probable. We needed quite a number of teams to slip up and we knew that it would be a long shot.”But we had to keep our eye on the ball and win the game, and it was a good performance. I was very pleased with the players.“Things didn’t work out for us but we wanted to send the fans home optimistic for next year.

“We are disappointed not to have got one of the three promotion places and I am sure that we will analyse things and look back at November when we didn’t get a point.

“But overall it will be a good season if we can build on it next year. Everyone has to be hungry enough to get better.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shawn Etemadi


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