English football could soon welcome another member of the Lloris family after goalkeeper Hugo spent 12 years at Tottenham.
Hugo, captain who won the World Cup with France in 2018, is one of his country’s most famous athletes and one who has left an indelible mark on the history of French football.
Hugo, now 38, now plays in the MLS for Los Angeles FC after leaving Spurs in 2024, but another Lloris could carry on the family name in English football.
Hugo’s lesser-known younger brother Gautier has quietly built a career in Ligue 1 with Le Havre after spells at Nice and Auxerre.
A central defender by trade, Gautier has shown a number of promising performances this season.
The 30-year-old is an imposing figure, much like brother Hugo, and with him arguably in top form, could a future move to England be on the cards?
Who is Gautier Lloris?
“Gautier Lloris is respected but he is far from being a household name, not even as Hugo’s brother,” said European football expert Andy Brassell. “And there are several reasons for that.
“Firstly, the fact that he’s kind of a journeyman, if we’re honest. Like he’s a good top player, but he’s had to work hard to get to the point where he’s a good top player.
“And secondly, I guess the age difference between him and Hugo is so big. So eight years? So they were never really contemporaries who got together.
“The family is from Nice, so they were both products of the Nice Academy. And obviously Hugo went from Nice to Lyon, and from there it passed Spurs and everything else. And he’s still there. Whereas Gautier never quite made it at Nice.”
“So he went from academy player to professional, but to get games he had to go to Auxerre. And when he didn’t really get the games there, he had to go to Le Havre, where he’s been for a while now.”
Gautier’s exploits have helped Le Havre climb to 12th place in Ligue 1 and despite being anchored in the bottom half of the table, they have one of the best defensive records of the surrounding teams.
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His performances for Le Havre weren’t bad, nor was his threat in the opposition penalty area.
“I guess if he’s attracted attention, it’s for a few reasons. First, because of his stature,” Brassell added.
“He’s really quite dominant and he’s someone who poses a threat even from set pieces.
“However, he was recently at the center of a major controversy when he was sent off in a winning game in Marseille.
“And he was sent off for an intentional handball where it wasn’t entirely clear, A, whether it was intentional and B, whether it was inside the penalty area or not. He was sent off by the VAR for that because it was intentional and because it was inside the penalty area.”
“So Marseille got a penalty, which they equalized, and then they went on to completely annihilate Le Havre. Of course, because they are one of the weakest teams in the league and only played with ten players at the Velodrome.”
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“And yes, of course they played the rest of the game with ten men. That’s what he’s known for this season.”
Is a move to England a possibility for the in-form defender?
Despite his misfortune against Marseille, Brassell acknowledges the defender’s overall improvement, led by a former Middlesbrough star who is now head coach of the Normandy-based club.
And that could mean a move across the English Channel in the not too distant future.
“He’s good enough,” Brassell said.
“He is a really strong central defender who is almost 1.90 meters tall. He is good in four or three. Of course he is trained by Didier Digard, now at Le Havre, formerly from the PSG academy, but also from Middlesbrough.
“I mean, if I looked at Gautier Lloris and I didn’t know how old he was, I would imagine him eventually moving up and either playing for a more prestigious French team or maybe playing in the top half of the Championship in England.
“I guess the thing is that he’s 30, which is a bit of a hindrance.
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“But I suspect that Didier Digard may have a slim chance of becoming an EFL player at some point in the future given his connection to England and the EFL. But obviously the clock is ticking at 30.”
Asked whether he could see himself playing in the Premier League or at the top of the Championship if he moved to England, Brassell said: “I think the Championship is probably the limit, just because I honestly think every club in the Premier League has money these days.”
“They won’t buy a 30-year-old out of the Championship.
“But I enjoy watching him play and I really enjoy watching him play because, like I said, he is physical, a tricky player and a good centre-back.
“I think the chance to play in the Premier League has probably gone because of his age.
“But it was never easy for him because, as I said, he was never a contemporary of Hugo because of the age difference between them. And it was difficult for Hugo when he was 20 when their father died.
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“Obviously Gaultier was a lot younger at that point, so that clearly had an impact on his childhood.
“And he still managed to fight and fight his way through the Nice academy and he managed to secure a very good career in the French top flight.
“I guess you compare him to someone similar to Emiliano Sala’s best mate from Nantes, this guy Nicolas Pallois.
“He still plays and played at Nantes and was, I think, a certain type of centre-back, rough, tough, no nonsense, but he had a really good career until his late 30s, almost 40, without really threatening the French national team.”
“But he’s been part of some decent teams and has been a really good servant at this level.”