HUGO Lloris’s dislocated elbow will keep the goalkeeper out until 2020, Tottenham have confirmed.
Lloris suffered a gruesome arm injury during Tottenham’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton which saw him given morphine and rushed to hospital.
Replays showed his left elbow bend backwards as he fell and Spurs fans feared he could face a lengthy period on the sidelines.
A club statement read: “Hugo Lloris has undergone further assessment after sustaining a dislocated elbow in our match against Brighton on Saturday.
“The findings have shown that although surgery will not be required, our Club Captain has suffered ligament damage and is not expected to return to training before the end of 2019.”
“Hugo is currently in a brace and will now undergo a period of rest and rehabilitation under the supervision of our medical staff at Hotspur Way.”
Lloris was due to join up with Didier Deschamps’ France squad for qualifiers against Iceland and Turkey but Real Madrid stopper Alphonse Areola is expected to take his place in the starting XI.
“It is difficult to say exactly how long [Lloris] will not be available,” Deschamps said.
Lloris was injured falling backwards after dropping the ball on the line, allowing Neal Maupay to nod the ball home from a yard out.
Spurs went on to record their second consecutive defeat despite the efforts of substitute goalkeeper Paolo Gazzaniga and manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted that it was partly down to losing the influential Lloris.
“To concede after three minutes in the way we did and what happened to our captain, it is normal that the impact was massive for the team,” Pochettino said.
“It is an emotional game and the team was very affected, we never can be in the game.
“We did not show our real performance, I am never going to take the credit away from Brighton, we need to give them the credit too, the team suffered a massive impact after three minutes.
“I feel sorry for our fans, I want to say thank you for the massive effort coming here, we know how they feel, very disappointed, everybody feels really bad, the players and staff are the same.
“We need to find a way to stay together and be all together again and find a good dynamic.” – Eurosport
