Pau Lopez, better known as Pauin Spain, is a 22-year old goalkeeper playing for RCD Espanyol. The 1.89m tall goalkeeper tasted his first blood of English football last season when he was taken on loan by English top side Tottenham Hotspur.
Despite spending an entire season, Pau was unable to break into the first team, largely due to the excellent form of Spurs’ number 1 Hugo Lloris. Lopez failed to earn a single appearance for the first team, but the 22-year old played seven games for their U-23 side keeping 3 clean sheets in the process.
Back to RCD Espanyol for the 2017/18 season and he is making regular appearances for the first team with already seven games under his belt. However, with Lopez yet to sign an extension to his contract which runs down at the end of the current campaign, it is rumoured that the youngster is leaving sooner rather than later.
Of the clubs interested in him, two English clubs who wanted to swoop in for him were Brighton & Hove Albion and Watford. The club from the south coast of England has Australian number 1 Mathew Ryan who joined the club for a record fee of £6m in goal. They also have Tim Krul and Niki Maenpaa in goal for the 2017/18 season.
The Seagulls pursuit of the young Pau failed primarily because the Catalonian born goalkeeper wants regular first team action, something he won’t be guaranteed in clubs outside England, as he found out very dearly last season.
He admitted in an interview that he has turned down offers to leave Espanyol and wished to continue repaying the faith of his coach by playing for Espanyol.
The 22-year old from Girona however, is yet to sign an extension.
With the new contract still pending, it is believed other clubs are still keeping tabs on the situation. Although Lopez did not play for Tottenham’s first team, it is believed he impressed Mauricio Pochettino enough for the club to make a £2m bid for the player.
Following Spurs’ failed attempt, Brighton made their move to bring in the 22-year old but again lack of game time assurance became the crucial cog in a move that failed to transpire.
Although, Brighton and Hove Albion are still believed to be keeping tabs on the goalkeeper, a move for the 22-year old would not be the most important thing for the club now. The club has a steady defence line conceding nine goals in seven games, a standard not bad for Brighton who are returning to the Premier League this season.
However their scoring remains a problem with the club scoring only 5 goals, fourth-joint lowest in the league and the club should focus in reshuffling their attacking edge if they wish to survive in England’s top league.
