Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has revealed he’s ‘not far off’, with his return to the side planned for the end of January.
Lloris has been out for the last four months after suffering a fractured elbow in the defeat to Brighton back in October.
He has been working his way back to fitness since then, with the nature of the injury requiring time and plenty of patience.
It is the longest break the Frenchman has suffered in his career, but in a boost to Tottenham, he has revealed he is close to a return.
“It’s going well,” he told L’Equipe.
“I’m getting closer to the team, and I’m starting to have a very clear goal in the resumption of the competition, even if I’m keeping it to myself. But I’m not far off.
“I’ve obviously lost my bearings. I’ve had time to prepare my body and my head, to work on movement, distance and touching the ball.
“The idea is to come back at the end of January, but it’s conditioned by my feelings, by the choice of the coach (José Mourinho) as well.
“All the games are important, I’m needed, and the team isn’t where they’d like to be. So you have to think carefully: I’ll have to be 100 per cent to come back.”
At the time of the injury, there were plenty of suggestions that fatigue may have played its part in the incident.
As first-choice for both club and country, Lloris has had a busy few years, with little time between games to rest and recuperate.
And when asked whether that played its part, he admitted he feels that way looking back.
“Yes, I certainly was (fatigued).”
“I’m not used to looking back, but I think the sequence of seasons, matches, everything that had happened in the previous months, led me there.
“It happened at the elbow, but it could have happened anywhere else. I believe in that a little bit.”
While Lloris’ immediate focus will be on Tottenham and getting back to full fitness for them, he will also have his long-term view on France.
The Spurs keeper is number one for his country and would have been their undisputed number one at Euro 2020 this summer.
That is now in doubt as a result of his injury, although he admits he was ‘lucky’ with the nature of the injury.
“The luck I had was that it could have been much worse,” he added.
“If there had been a fracture, maybe the question would have arisen.
“There was no nerve damage either: just a ligament and some muscle tears. But it took a good three months, though.”
