Injury Expert: Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso likely to feature for Under-21s before first-team return
We’re delighted to welcome injury expert Dr Rajpal Brar as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the injury situation at Tottenham Hotspur...
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Giovani Lo Celso appears to be on the cusp of making his first-team return, according to Dr Rajpal Brar.
The injury expert claims that the Argentina international will be given bounce matches to regain his fitness before he can be considered as a starting option by Ange Postecoglou.
The 27-year-old last featured for the Lilywhites on 29 August when his side lost on penalties to Fulham in the Carabao Cup.
Discussing Lo Celso’s situation exclusively with Tottenham News, Brar, a doctor in physical therapy and a sports scientist, said: “According to Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou, Lo Celso is dealing with a quadriceps strain.
“These are common injuries for footballers and it sounds like this was potentially a grade 2 injury.
“The targeted timeline is supposed to be not long after the most recent international break.
“He will likely get some bounce games with limited minutes prior to playing a full 90 minutes.
“This could be either with the under-21s, which is more likely, or the first team as it’s important after such a long layoff.
“The last thing Spurs will want is another injury to him.”
Lo Celso arrived at Tottenham from Real Betis in 2019 with plenty of hype surrounding him. However, he has failed to live up to expectations thus far.
With Mauricio Pochettino being sacked, everything became disoriented at the North London club and Lo Celso certainly did not benefit from that chaos.
Last season, the former Paris Saint-Germain attacking midfielder was loaned out to Villarreal where he played 22 games in La Liga and was pretty impressive for the Yellow Submarine.
Postecoglou will certainly be looking to see what he can offer as thus far he’s just played one cup and Premier League game under him.
In other Tottenham news, a forgotten Spurs full-back may feel like a new signing under Postecoglou.