Manchester United lining up Hugo Lloris as De Gea replacement

This summer's transfer window is weird, not least because there's a strong possibility of a high-level goalkeeper domino effect, something that doesn't seem to happen very often. And, like like always, it starts with Real Madrid. Madrid has its eyes on Manchester United's David De Gea this summer, and now ESPN is reporting that United are eying none other than Tottenham Hotspur's Hugo Lloris as a back-up plan.

United have reportedly offered a huge contract extension to De Gea, whose contract runs out next summer, but Madrid being Madrid, they've apparently targeted the Spanish #1 as one of their prime summer targets, and the decision could come down to De Gea as to where he wants to play his football next season.

Hugo, meanwhile, has reportedly grown dissatisfied waiting for Tottenham to qualify for the Champions League and is considering making a move of his own this summer. He recently signed an extension of his own with Spurs, and it was revealed that the rumored Champions League club buy-out clause in his contract was fictional, but that doesn't at all mean that he's not going anywhere this summer. It just means that whatever team that buys him will have to probably pay through the nose. Should Madrid go all-in on De Gea, that club is likely to be United. If United holds firm on De Gea, Madrid will probably then turn to Hugo. Poor Hugo, always the bridesmaid.

But there's an additional wrinkle: in reports yesterday, both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are due to be given two-window transfer bans by FIFA over violations in the transfer of minors. If the reports are true, that could throw a monkey-wrench into the entire process. However, remember Barcelona? They got a transfer ban for the exact same thing, and due to appeal (and overall FIFA stupidity-slash-possible-corruption) their transfer ban was conveniently postponed to give a chance for them to stock up on players. There's absolutely no reason why the same thing wouldn't happen to Madrid in this case, and in fact may actually increase the possibility that Madrid goes out and drops an absolute fortune on players now, knowing that it won't be able to register players for a whole year.

So what's this mean for Tottenham Hotspur and Hugo Lloris? Well, in short it probably means that if he wants to go, Hugo will probably be sold this summer, though almost certainly for a lot of money. It also probably means another long and protracted transfer saga that may not get resolved until the very end of the window. Thanks, Madrid.