Hugo Lloris left Europe a year and a half ago after 15 years between Nice, OL and Tottenham. Shelved by Spurs, despite his 11 seasons at the club, including 8 as captain, the goalkeeper had served his time and his performances declined irremediably with age. A few months earlier, he had also retired internationally. Today, he is quietly ending his career at Los Angeles FC in MLS, without the media pressure that has always surrounded him on the old continent. At 37, he also took the opportunity to release a new book entitled Earning my Spurs which as its name suggests looks back on his years with Tottenham. The former French international (145 caps) recalls a rather astonishing episode that he still has not digested.
Before the 2019 Champions League final lost to Liverpool (2-0), Daniel Levy, the club president, wanted to please his players by giving them a gift but he went about it in a clumsy way. “Four days before the final, Daniel Levy brought us all together to announce that with the support of a sponsor, we would each receive a luxury aviator watch from the clubbegins Lloris. At first we were excited to see the elegant boxes. Then we opened them and discovered that he had had the player’s name and the words “2019 Champions League Finalist” engraved on the back of each watch. “Finalist”he insisted even though the final had not been played. Who does such a thing at a time like this? I still haven’t gotten over it and I’m not the only one. If we had won, he would not have asked for the backs of the watches to be engraved “Winner”. I have a lot of respect and esteem for this man and everything he has done for the club as president – I have gotten to know him – but there are things he is not all about. just not sensitive. As beautiful as this watch is, I have never worn it. I would have preferred there to be no inscription. With an engraving like that, Levy couldn’t have been surprised if we were 1-0 down after a few minutes: it was written…»
