Tottenham assistant manager Cristian Stellini says Hugo Lloris will be out of action for “between five and seven weeks”.
Lloris sustained a knee injury in Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League win over Manchester City. The 2018 World Cup winner was later shown to have suffered ligament damage.
Lloris has been criticised for a handful of high-profile errors this season, yet the injury is still a major blow for Antonio Conte’s side. Lloris retired from France duty after heartache in the 2022 World Cup final. He is his nation’s most-capped player with 145 appearances and has played 443 matches for Spurs since joining the north London club in 2012.
Stellini lamented: “It is always better to have Hugo with us. All the keepers make some mistakes sometimes and it’s not good to have an injury. We prefer to have Hugo with us. He could use this time to recover mentally. Hugo played the last games very well so it was a good moment for him. He had recovered from the World Cup completely.”
Lloris’s injury means that Fraser Forster is set to deputise in the weeks ahead. The ex-England international has only played four matches in all competitions for Spurs this term yet will now come straight into the first team. The 34-year-old previously turned out for Celtic and Southampton.
Stellini said he and Tottenham can trust Forster to step into Lloris’s shoes for the foreseeable future.
He said: “I like Fraser [as] a man. He is a very good man — his behaviour is good. Every day he trains very hard and he pushes even Hugo to train well.
“Physically he is a keeper perfect for the Premier League style, for the type of game we are going to play in the Premier League. It will be interesting to see him for some weeks play for us. We completely trust in him.”
Spurs visit Leicester on Saturday in the Premier League before taking on AC Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday in their Champions League round of 16 first-leg tie.
