Chadder View: It is time for Tottenham to cash in on Giovani Lo Celso after latest injury setback
Matthew Chadder is a lifelong Tottenham fan who grew up just down the road from his beloved club in North London. He’s now putting his passion for Spurs into words with a daily fan view for Tottenham News…
Few Tottenham supporters wanted to see Giovani Lo Celso excel in north London more than myself.
On a cold Tuesday night in January 2020, I dragged a few of my non-Spurs supporting friends along with me to watch Tottenham play Middlesbrough in an FA Cup third-round replay at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Why did they come along to that snoozefest? For two reasons. Firstly, to check out our shiny new stadium, and secondly, because I was keen to prove to them that Lo Celso was the next big thing and that they would understand if they watched him live.
That night, I was proven right, as Lo Celso opened the scoring just two minutes into the contest and played relatively well throughout. However, in the long run, I wasn’t quite so right and had to take back some of my early claims.
One of my first Twitter (or X as it is now known) handles was ‘lo_celso_szn.’ Essentially, I was a big fan of the player when he first arrived, I think that is now more than clear.
It seems like a long time ago now, but some of his early performances for the club were incredibly encouraging, and he quickly became one of my favourite players. Although just as fast as I had fallen in love with the Argentinian, I became incredibly frustrated with him.
His inconsistency was simply annoying, as was his injury record, and for whatever reason it just didn’t seem like he and the club were the right fit. After his numerous loan spells I thought it was inevitable he would eventually be sold, perhaps even as soon as this summer.
Nonetheless, he remains on the books and a part of Ange Postecoglou’s squad. When James Maddison was injured, I knew that it was last chance saloon for a player whom I had backed so early into his Spurs career. Could he finally prove me right four years on so I could resend all those messages I had deleted?
The initial answer was yes, and I couldn’t quite believe my eyes as he scored both against Aston Villa and Manchester City and started to perform at a level you would expect from a player of his quality and experience.
But once again, any sign of a revival for the player in north London has been squashed. Yes, his most recent injury isn’t his fault and might only be a small one, but it is once again a timely reminder that this is a player we cannot count on, no matter how good he looks in brief spells or moments.
There is no doubt a player in there, perhaps just not one cut out for the Premier League. With just 18 months to run on his contract, a renewal makes little sense for either party and with January fast approaching, this could be one of Spurs’ final chances to cash in on an asset who has been all-in-all a colossal waste of money.
I for one will not let myself get sucked into the hype yet again. He is not going to make it at Tottenham, this is clear, it is time to move on.
At least we will always have that night against Middlesbrough four years ago.
In other Tottenham news, the club are set for losses of £1million soon, and there is nothing Daniel Levy can do about it.