Scouting the Top Four Options to Replace Keylor Navas at Real Madrid

Hugo Lloris

Speaking of British tabloid rag The Sun, the “newspaper” also claims that Real Madrid will be going after Hugo Lloris if deals for de Gea and Courtois both fall through.

While Lloris rarely seems to get placed in the “Best in the World” category with the likes of Buffon, Neuer, Courtois, and de Gea, he is frequently considered in the “One of the Best” category just below it, frequently making the lists of top goalkeepers in the EPL and the top ten in the world.

Strengths:

Lloris has deputized well for Tottenham over the years, playing in a modern “sweeper-keeper” role under Andre Villas-Boas that has only been solidified by the tactical instructions of Mauricio Pochettino. Lloris has assumed the Captain’s arm-band at Tottenham, stepping up as a leader in the locker-room who, according to Paul Doyle at The Guardian, typically commands his team through quiet composure, but is not afraid to yell at his teammates when they lose the plot.

Lloris’ keeping style is marked by heightened intelligence and strong positional awareness which augment his already impressive shot-stopping skills. Dominique Baratelli, a French goalkeeping coach who scouted Lloris at an early age, says that Lloris’ intelligence in positioning and knowing when to leave the box has always been a hallmark of the French keeper, even as a young boy:

"What struck me most strongly and immediately were his anticipation and his reading of the game. He made extraordinary saves, of course, but most of all he took intelligent initiatives. He had an innate understanding of when to come off his line and even sometimes out of his box to join in play like an outfielder… I’ve never seen a 12-year-old do it as well as Hugo did. He was directing teams from the back even then."

Additionally, Lloris’ has developed a strong set of dynamic distribution skills, something that he has been criticized for in the past, but has worked to cultivate under Pochettino’s system.

Intelligent positioning is something Real Madrid have been lacking at the back this season, with a number of goals coming from Keylor Navas’ finding himself caught out at inopportune moments. That combined with Lloris’ quiet leadership skills could make him a solid contribution to Madrid’s squad.

Weaknesses:

The biggest downside to Hugo Lloris is his age. At 30 years of age, Lloris is entering into the prime of his career. It’s always difficult to tell whether keepers will age more like Iker Casillas, who saw a sudden and unexpected decline, or like Gianluigi Buffon, who, like a fine Italian wine, seems to only get better with age.

Either way, Madrid would be taking a gamble on Lloris’ age, and would likely be signing just another stop-gap rather than a long-term replacement that they can build a dynasty around in the mold of San Iker.

Another area of weakness for Lloris is his aerial game. He has been called merely “average” at dealing with aerial threats, which may come as no surprise given his slightly shorter stature for a keeper, coming in at just 6’2’’.

However, to his credit, this is an element of his game that he has been working on improving with some degree of success. As Ian Herbert of The Independent writes, “It is the development of Lloris’ aerial game – not always a strong point for him – which has most impressed French football analysts who have observed him down the years.”

Desirability (1-10):

5 – I give Lloris’ a lower ranking here not because he is a bad keeper, but simply because he is not as good as an option as de Gea or Courtois. While Lloris’ currently deserves to be in the conversation about best keepers in the world, it is unlikely that he will remain in that conversation for as long as Madrid’s other options. Lloris would be fine as a short-term replacement for Navas, but Madrid should be looking for a long-term solution to their problems at the back.

Likelihood (1-10):

4 – Again, the low ranking on likelihood here is mostly due to the fact that Madrid are, in all probability, going to book one of the first two targets on their list before ever having to move on to a consideration of Lloris.

It’s perhaps no surprise that the keeper is linked to Zidane’s team, as Lloris’ leadership on the French national team may have endeared him to Zidane. Yet given that Lloris still belongs in the “one of the best” conversation rather than “the best”, I imagine Perez will likely try to go in a more Galactico-esque direction when the decision is made to bring in a new keeper this summer.