LAFC brings in goalkeeper Lloris from Tottenham
Hugo Lloris, the most capped player in the history of the French national team and a World Cup winner in 2018, has joined the Los Angeles Football Club.
After playing the last 11 years in north London for Tottenham of the English Premier League, the 37-year-old goalkeeper heads to LAFC on a oneyear guaranteed contract, with club options for 2025 and 2026.
The permanent transfer comes after Lloris made 447 appearances across all competitions for Tottenham, including a runnerup finish in the 2019 UEFA Champions League as a teammate of former LAFC forward Gareth Bale.
A native of Nice, France, Lloris served as the Tottenham captain from 20152022 before being replaced in August. He began his career with OGC Nice and made his Ligue 1 debut at the age of 19. Lloris joined Olympique Lyon in July of 2008, winning the French Cup and French Super Cup prior to transferring to England in August 2012.
France's runner-up showing against Argentina last year, Lloris's fourth trip to the World Cup and second consecutive World Cup finals start, preceded his retirement from international competition in January.
Participating in a record 145 matches for Les Bleus, during which Lloris registered 68 shutouts, his 20 World Cup appearances is the all-time high for a goalkeeper.
During the current Premier League season, Lloris has not played a minute in any of Tottenham's 19 matches behind goalkeepers Guglielmo Vicario and Fraser Forster.
Lloris has not stepped on the field for Tottenham since a 6-1 loss to Newcastle in April.
The free transfer to Los Angeles comes with a Major League Soccer-friendly salary — $350,000 in 2023, according to a source, which is in line with what roughly two-thirds of the goalkeepers in the league make.
“Once this became a possibility,” said LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington, “we charged hard at it.”
The acquisition of a player Thorrington described as arguably the
Longtime Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has agreed to join LAFC for the coming season.
most successful goalkeeper of his generation signals the departure of French-speaking 29-year-old free-agent Canadian Maxime Crépeau.
“Max was a guy that we left the season hopeful that we could keep him,” said Thorrington, speaking from London. “Without getting into too much detail, as the weeks progressed it became clear that that was highly unlikely, and so we've gone a different direction.”
Describing Crépeau as a “legend” for sacrificing himself in LAFC's 2022 MLS Cup victory, “I think whoever ends up signing Max is getting a fantastic goalkeeper and a phenomenal human being,” Thorrington added. “And I wish Max, his wife Cristina and his family nothing but the best.”
Fellow free agent John McCarthy signed with the Galaxy, and veteran Eldin Jakupovic's contract option was declined at the start the offseason, heralding a shakeup of the LAFC goalkeeping unit under assistant coach Oka Nikolov.
Pasadena-born Abraham Romero, 25, remains the other goalkeeper on the LAFC roster.
Nikolov evaluated Lloris in England as talks intensified in recent weeks and Tottenham “helped mitigate any concerns about Hugo and his health heading into 2024,” said Thorrington, who added that the goalkeeper's competitive edge and desire to win was evident in their conversations.
Lloris' final match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium comes today against Bournemouth.
“It was really important to him that it not just be a farewell from Spurs, but that everyone knew where he's going,” said Thorrington, who will be in attendance. “For us, we're very grateful that that's LAFC.”