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Tottenham must hold onto goalkeeper Hugo Lloris if the north London side want to compete in the Premier League next season, the club's vice-captain Jan Vertonghen has said.
Lloris has seen himself linked with a summer move to Manchester United as a potential replacement for David de Gea, who continues to be the subject of interest from Real Madrid.
The rumours about Lloris' future led to Spurs manager, Mauricio Pochettino, insisting the France international wanted to stay at White Hart Lane and that the club were not looking to sell the shot-stopper this summer.
But earlier this week, Lloris gave an interview to French sports newspaper L'Equipe in which he admitted he was considering his options for next season despite still having four years left on his current Spurs deal.
However, Vertonghen has admitted he hopes the France international remains at Tottenham to help the north London side continue to grow as a club.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, the defender said: "He's a great guy, great captain, great goalkeeper and a brilliant player for us.
"He's the captain, very important and this season he was one of our best players.
"He's been outstanding for us and if you want to continue growing as a club you have to keep your best players and Hugo is one of them.
"I hope Tottenham can keep him. It will be a sign for everyone next year that we want to compete in the Premier League."
He added: "We ended the season well in the last two games and we didn't expect to finish fifth. Hopefully we can continue to push for fourth. We've got four big teams ahead of us at the moment but we have to find a way to beat them."
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Vertonghen will line up against his Spurs teammate Lloris when Belgium play France in a friendly international game in Paris on Sunday.
