Hugo Lloris almost ended up at one of Tottenham Hotspur’s rivals before moving to North London in 2012.
According to iNews, former Newcastle United chief scout Graham Carr suggested the club sign Lloris eleven years ago.
The Frenchman began his career in his native country, spending four years with Lyon as he was named the Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year on three occasions, which was partnered with his inclusion in Ligue 1 Team of the Year.
After becoming France’s first-choice captain for the 2012 Euros, Lloris eventually earned himself a move to Tottenham for an initial €10 million (£8.7m) plus €5m add-ons (£4.3m).
Lloris made his Spurs debut in September 2012 and nobody would have expected him to have quite the impact he has had at the club. The goalkeeper has made 447 appearances since arriving in England.
However, things could have been very different if the 36-year-old had joined Newcastle from Lyon.
With Carr also alerting the Magpies’ to Eden Hazard and Raphael Varane, the scout admitted that a lot of players didn’t want to move to Tyneside because of the weather.
“Newcastle is a fantastic place,” Carr said. “But some of these lads, their first thought was how cold it is up there and why would you want to play there? And with some of them, you knew their agents had bigger things in mind.”
Lloris to Newcastle?
Tottenham have finally welcomed a very capable replacement for Lloris in Guglielmo Vicario as Lloris looks to leave North London after falling out of favour under Ange Postecoglou, however he has been a brilliant servant to the club and things could have been completely different if they hadn’t signed him in 2012.
Reports claimed Lloris had a second opportunity to join Newcastle in the summer, however the France international rejected them. Perhaps the Northern weather is still an issue, because the Champions League club is surely a much more appealing destination than they were eleven years ago.
Receive a digest of our best Spurs content each week direct to your mailbox
