Tottenham Consider Ajax's Andre Onana as January Replacement for Hugo Lloris
Tottenham are considering a January bid for Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana, with the Cameroon international valued at £35m, according to one report.
Club captain and current number one Hugo Lloris was ruled out until 2020 after dislocating his elbow in the defeat to Brighton in October, but his pre-injury form appears to have nudged Spurs toward finding a long-term successor.
After impressing in Ajax's run to the Champions League semi-finals - including a first-leg clean sheet at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - Onana now tops Tottenham's list of Lloris replacements, according to The Sun.
A valuable asset and long-time servant since his arrival in 2012, Lloris' occasional lapses in concentration and errors of judgement have become alarmingly frequent, and it appears Spurs may choose succession planning over sentiment in moving for Onana.
At 23 years old, Onana is almost a decade younger than the Frenchman and also has four years on understudy Paulo Gazzaniga. The Argentine has filled in admirably for Lloris - including a standout performance against Liverpool - but has yet to convince he has what it takes to become the Lillywhites' permanent number one.
Despite his relatively young age for a goalkeeper, Onana already boasts more than 100 Eredivisie appearances and was a vital component in Ajax's domestic double-winning 2018/19 season. That earned him a spot in the league's team of the season, just one year after being crowned 2018's Best African Goalkeeper and Cameroon's Indomitable Lion of the Year.
The challenge lies in convincing the Ajax goalkeeper that he will become Mauricio Pochettino's first choice and not locked in a battle for the number one jersey when Lloris does return to full fitness.
While concerns of Daniel Levy's hardball negotiations might typically concern Spurs fans over any potential transfer, the relationship between the two clubs has been fruitful in recent years - Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez have all relocated from Amsterdam to north London in recent memory.