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| Lloris in pre-season action against Sydney FC |
HUGO LLORIS returns to action for Spurs today and will wear the captain's armband to show his ongoing commitment to Tottenham.
Despite persistent rumours drawing him into the potential goalkeeper merry-go-round involving David De Gea at Old Trafford, the France captain has told Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino he wants to play Champions League football, but only with the north London club.
If recent history is anything to go by, Pochettino's decision to promote Lloris to become the club's permanent captain is no indication of any sort of stability though.
Twelve months ago Pochettino announced shortly after his arrival that Michael Dawson would continue as his skipper, only to sell the centre-back a month later.
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| Hugo Lloris has made 99 appearances for Spurs since he joined the club in 2012 |
In September, it was announced Younes Kaboul had inherited Dawson's mantle, but hardly played last season and was sold to Sunderland earlier in the summer.
"Coincidence!" laughed Pochettino. "For different things, I decided to give the armband to Younes. But I'm happy with the way we take this decision and now the way we take the decision about Hugo.
"It was common sense. Hugo deserves to be the captain and after we have Jan Vertonghen, Harry Kane. It's a good reference for the group. It's a very good mix."
A recent interview in L'Equipe seemed to suggest Lloris was becoming frustrated at Tottenham's failure to break into the top four, heightening speculation he would head to Old Trafford if De Gea was signed by Real Madrid.
But Pochettino insisted: "Hugo is very happy to be here. His commitment with the club is high. We need to be happy because if Manchester United want Lloris, it's because we have a very good goalkeeper. But Hugo has a contract here and he is happy here, and he wants to get success here.
"I don't know about any interview, but he told me he is keen to play in the Champions League with Tottenham, not with another club.
"That is his dream. It's our dream. And you don't need to convince him to stay because he has a four-year contract."
Mark Hughes is certain Stoke can improve on their two ninth-place finishes.
Hughes takes his men to Tottenham today claiming it is possible to take the club higher and refuses to accept he might be bashing his head on a glass ceiling.
And while they are a million miles from the Premier League's elite, Hughes is urging his men to become the best of the rest.
"It is a big step," he said. "There is a league within a league. In that group of teams we are now at the top end.
"To make the step out of that is a huge one and more often than not it takes a significant investment.
"But we are in a position where we can be the best of the rest and in any given season you never know - you can get a run of results which propels you even further up the league.
"I remember at Blackburn we got to sixth so it is possible. Maybe it is harder than 10 years ago and things have moved on, but it is possible still.
"The fact I have done it before, we will try again. It won't disappoint me, we will keep on trying."
Hughes is confident he now has a number of individuals who can turn a match on its head with a moment of brilliance, including new record signing Xherdan Shaqiri, Marko Arnautovic and Bojan.
He added: "You have to have guys who can change games to make that leap. You need game changers, you saw at the weekend Liverpool had a game changer and we didn't.
"We have game changers in the building now like Marko, Bojan and Shaqiri who weren't involved against Liverpool. So we are encouraged and know those are the kind of players you need in games when you are not functioning as well as you can do.
"The opposition are not going to make it easy for you but we have talent now who can change the game on their own and that is what you need."
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