Hugo Lloris ‘loves’ Tottenham and wants to stay, Antonio Conte claims

Antonio Conte hopes Tottenham Hotspur can “find a solution” to keep Hugo Lloris at the club and has ruled out Harry Winks leaving in January.

France goalkeeper Lloris’ deal expires at end of the season, meaning he can talk to foreign clubs from Saturday about a free transfer in the summer.

There has been no suggestion of a new contract offer just yet, but Conte hopes a deal can be struck.

“Hugo is a Tottenham player, he’s the captain,” Conte said. “For sure he will talk with the club to try to find a solution. I think Hugo wants to stay in his club, he loves the club, he stays well in Tottenham.”

With the transfer window opening in two days, Conte has confirmed Winks will be staying put after fighting his way into the Italian’s plans.

Winks was considering his future a couple of months ago after being frozen out by Nuno Espirito Santo, but Conte has reintegrated him into the squad.

“Winksy is playing well. And Winks has shown (himself) to be a reliable player. And for this reason, Winksy will stay here,” Conte said.

“I find players that are reliable and then I can count on them. And Winksy showed me that I can count on him.”

Tanguy Ndombele’s future looks far more uncertain, having played just 80 minutes of Premier League action in eight games under Conte.

The Italian was asked to explain what role suited the Frenchman best, but Conte curtly replied: “He’s a midfielder.”

Despite being open on Winks’ future, asked whether Ndombele would stay at the club in January, he said: “I think that it’s better for me and the club to speak together. And then we will have the situation more clear than now.

“Now, to speak about players that can come or go, I think is not right and is not honest.”

Conte plans to sit down with chairman Daniel Levy and football managing director Fabio Paratici about plans for the forthcoming transfer window.

After two months in the job he has made his assessment of the squad and says they need to improve in quality.

“I’m sure 100 per cent. I made the evaluation after two months of work with my players. For sure now the situation is more clear than before,” he said.

“I am waiting to have a meeting with the club and then also to give my opinion about the squad and what I think about our situation. For sure I am waiting for a meeting.

“After only two weeks, I said we need to improve the quality of the squad and for sure we need to improve the quality of this squad.

“I was sure after seven days, 10 days, two weeks about this. Then I made evaluations to understand which players I could count on and which players I can’t.

“For sure, the squad needs to improve quality but in an important way.”

Spurs are expected to be missing Seven Bergwijn, Giovani Lo Celso, Ryan Sessegnon and Cristian Romero for the New Year’s Day trip to Watford.