Giovani Lo Celso convinced to stay at Tottenham by Ange Postecoglou – report
Giovani Lo Celso has been convinced to stay at Tottenham by Ange Postecoglou, according to Mucho Deporte.
The Spanish outlet reports (26 July) that the Argentine midfielder was one of the objectives for Real Betis to sign this summer.
However, the move was already fraught with difficulty as Spurs would want to recoup much of the fee they paid to sign him from Betis on a full-time deal in January 2020 – the Daily Mail reporting at the time that the figure was around £27.2million.
Now, Lo Celso – who spent last season on loan back in LaLiga with Villarreal – looks even more unlikely to depart with new Spurs boss Postecoglou having been impressed by what he has seen of the 27-year-old in pre-season.
For his part, Mucho Deporte says Lo Celso is happy to remain at Tottenham and give things another go after being used heavily in training sessions by the Australian.
Worth another go
There is no doubting the fact there is a serious talent there in Giovani Lo Celso.
But things have not always quite worked out at Tottenham. That, of course, could be explained by the fact he is an attacking midfielder and would not necessarily have fit the mould of Jose Mourinho, nor his successor Antonio Conte, who both have a reputation for being defensive-minded coaches.
By contrast, Postecoglou likes his midfielders to press hard and press high, while being comfortable in possession and having a keen eye for a pass, and constantly being on the move.
Which is why it is easy to see why Lo Celso would be so highly rated by the Australian, and why he maybe will get a stay of execution where some of Spurs’ other midfielders may be sold, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Tanguy Ndombele may be among those who will be asked to find new clubs.
According to stats provided by FBRef, Lo Celso ranks in the top 90 percentile of his midfield peers across the top five European leagues for both progressive passes and progressive carries made per 90 minutes over the past 365 days, the top 94 for successful take-ons and top 97 for touches taken in the attacking penalty area.
He is not shot-shy either, with Lo Celso in the top 98 percentile among midfielders for shots taken in total per 90 mins, and top 78 for goals per 90 mins.
All in all, it is fair to say Lo Celso is worth another go.
In other Tottenham news, Pape Matar Sarr could feel like a new signing for Postecoglou.