Tottenham Hotspur 'add Ter Stegen, Lafont to goalkeeper shortlist'

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly identified Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Nantes' Alban Lafont as potential successors to Hugo Lloris.

Thirty-five-year old Lloris is only under contract at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium until the summer of 2024 and is approaching the twilight of his Premier League career.

The France international is still Antonio Conte's number-one shot-stopper ahead of Fraser Forster, whose free transfer from Southampton was not considered a long-term investment either.

However, Lloris has come under fire for some of his recent performances and was largely at fault for Gabriel Jesus's goal in Spurs' 3-1 North London derby defeat to Arsenal at the weekend.

As a result, the Lilywhites are understood to be in the market for a new first-choice shot-stopper to take over from Lloris and have been strongly linked with Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak.

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Now, Jeunes Footeux claims that Ter Stegen and Lafont are also on Tottenham's shortlist, and the former is Conte's leading target for the number one spot.

The Barcelona man is the undisputed number one at Camp Nou - keeping six clean sheets in seven La Liga games this term - and is under contract at the club until the summer of 2025.

However, the report adds that Barcelona would not be averse to letting Ter Stegen leave for the right price, with the Blaugrana still in need of some big sales to balance the books.

The 30-year-old left Borussia Monchengladbach in 2014 to sign for Barcelona and has since made 336 appearances for the club in all tournaments, keeping 135 clean sheets.

Ter Stegen has won 14 major honours with La Blaugrana in that time - including four La Liga titles and the Champions League - although he has only earned 30 caps for Germany amid competition from Manuel Neuer.

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The report adds that Tottenham are also keeping a sharp eye on Nantes number one Lafont, who helped Les Canaris to Coupe de France glory in the 2021-22 season.

The 23-year-old initially joined Nantes on loan from Fiorentina in 2019 and made his move permanent last year before starring in a solid campaign under Antoine Kombouare.

Lafont played every minute for Les Canaris in Ligue 1 last season - keeping eight clean sheets - and he started in his side's 1-0 win over Nice in the Coupe de France final.

Despite his tender age, Lafont was handed the captain's armband by Kombouare last year and was called up to the France squad for the first time in September to replace the injured Lloris.

The former Toulouse man is under contract at the Stade de la Beaujoire until the end of the 2024-25 campaign.