Having made it clear he wanted to leave Tottenham this summer, Hugo Lloris probably didn’t expect to still be contracted to the London side on August 16th.

Clubs, while interested, didn’t exactly flock with the offers he was hoping for, meaning the 36-year-old now has made peace with the fact he might be second choice wherever he goes.

That’s what Gazzetta dello Sport are reporting on Wednesday, as they cover Lazio’s interest in the Tottenham veteran and the ongoing negotiations for a move.

Luís Maximiano is being sold to Almería, and that’s why they want the Frenchman, who is ‘arriving’, according to their information.

The agreement for a two-year contract ‘is near’, and his candidacy for the role of ‘second goalkeeper’ is ‘advancing’.

His age is why he would ‘accept the role of alternative’ to Ivan Provedel, and as well as his ability on the pitch, he would bring a ‘considerable level of international experience to the dressing room’.

This is seen as extremely useful after the Serie A side qualified for the Champions League, and the Tottenham player ‘likes the idea of going to Lazio a lot’.

In fact, talks are so close to being done that the deal ‘could already close in the next few hours’.

The belief is he will be released of his contract at Tottenham, and this would be an easy transfer to get over the line for all involved, since the desire from all parties is there.

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PUNDIT FEARS FOR £15M TOTTENHAM ACE AS HE THINKS POSTECOGLOU IS NOT ‘A FAN’

The sight of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg being left on the bench for Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League opener against Brentford has one-time Arsenal striker Alan Smith wondering if the Dane is on borrowed time under Ange Postecoglou. 

Amid all the furore surrounding Moises Caicedo’s British record £115 million move to Chelsea, it was another former Brighton midfielder who did his talking on the pitch over the weekend.

Yves Bissouma, 14 months on from his £25 million move from the Seagulls, offered a timely reminder as to why he was one of the most coveted playmakers anywhere in the Premier League not so long ago.

There were shades of Mousa Dembele about the way Bissouma ran the show in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw at Brentford; all shimmies and shakes, line-breaking passes and balletic control.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg fighting for Tottenham Hotspur future

Bissouma’s inclusion in the starting XI came at the expense of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. One of the first names on the Spurs team-sheet during the eras of Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho – Nuno Espirito Santo too, don’t forget – one Sky Sports pundit wonders if Hojbjerg’s days as an almost guaranteed starter are numbered with a more proactive, attack-focused coach in the building these days.

“Bissouma is an interesting one. They need him back to his Brighton form,” Alan Smith, a two-time First Division champion with Arsenal, wonders.

“I don’t think Postecoglou is a huge fan of Hojbjerg, in terms of his style of football.”

The £15 million signing from Southampton – for all his discipline, leadership and aggression – lacks Bissouma’s elegance and natural ball-playing ability. It is telling that, north of the border at Celtic, Postecoglou’s first-choice deep-lying midfielder was Callum McGregor; a man who’s role was not to stop attacks but to start them, while setting the tone and controlling the rhythm.

Atletico Madrid keen

Hojbjerg, according to The Times, could still leave North London for Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish giants are making no secret of their desire to sign a defensive midfielder to line up alongside the long-serving Koke.

“We need a midfielder to share that spot with Koke and give that position more competition,” coach Diego Simeone admits. “The season is long, the characteristics of those we have around Koke are not pure midfielders.

“(Geoffrey) Kondogbia left (for Marseille). We see (Axel) Witsel more as a centre-back, although he can play as a midfielder. But we believe that we are going to compete better with the arrival of another midfielder. (One who) gives us personality, ability and internal competition.”