Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has confirmed why he rejected a Deadline Day move to Nice, leaving his club career in limbo.
The 36-year-old confirmed at the beginning of the summer that he wanted to leave Spurs, and the club have been happy to facilitate an exit. New manager Ange Postecoglou signed a new goalkeeper in Guglielmo Vicario and Heung-min Son has taken the captaincy from the World Cup winner.
But, despite interest from the likes of Lazio, Newcastle and late in the window former club Nice, Lloris remains at Spurs and is expected to be excluded from the club's Premier League squad.
But Lloris insists he was unwilling to move clubs to play as a back-up, and did not want to stifle Nice keeper Marcin Bulka's development after Kasper Schmeichel had left.
Speaking to local newspaper Nice-Matin, the Frenchman said: "I want to clear up the ambiguity surrounding the events of the past hours.
"[On Friday], an hour before the end of the window, I received a call from an agent, who brought up the possibility of joining OGC Nice.
"Playing prospects and the sporting project, the real drivers behind a player’s decision, much more so than financial conditions, weren’t clearly broached.
"My professional journey has shown how much that exchange, of sharing and collective growth, have always forged my decisions, even more so when it’s about coming back to the club that trained me.
"The supporters and the team deserve better than a split-second decision based on a phone call without expectations or a clear sporting project with one hour until the closure of the window at a time where I wasn’t expecting it.
"To be honest, I couldn’t sign without this common shared vision, at least with the president and the coach. OGC Nice is, and will remain, a special club for me. It is my city, my club, my blood.
"A goalkeeper [Bulka] is in place today. He is without a doubt one of the best at the start of the season. He has a promising career ahead of him.
‘Joining a club to play, to build, to perform, yes; signing without a sporting vision and a direct positive impact on the team, no."
