REPORT: Lo Celso not in Postecoglou’s plans

We all know Giovani Lo Celso hasn’t had the happiest time at Tottenham Hotspur, but even so, it was somewhat of a surprise that he wasn’t included in the squad for Spurs’ last preseason friendly against Bayern Munich after returning from his offseason break. No one leaks Argentina football news like Gaston, and so it’s noted Argentine football correspondent Gaston Edul who has the latest on Lo Celso’s situation:

Elaborating further in a piece for TyC Sports, Edul clarifies that there are two clubs that are frontrunners for the Copa America winner’s signature: Aston Villa, and his old club, Real Betis. Spurs won’t be happy with a loan, either, with the Lilywhites wanting a permanent sale. This makes total sense with the Argentine only having a year remaining on his contract; that 2019 summer transfer window sure worked out well for the club, huh?

We wrote on both sets of interest here and here, though things have gone a bit quiet in the last month, and the Betis link especially has dried up since. That’s not due to lack of interest though, with Gaston strongly implying Manuel Pellegrini is keen on bringing the midfielder back to Seville to line up in green and white once more. Spurs had also discussed a swap deal involving midfielder Jacob Ramsey with Villa, but the London club were seemingly unwilling to part with the young Englishman and as a result a deal has not progressed.

Perhaps the more interesting part of the report is the claim that Ange Postecoglou has effectively frozen Lo Celso out of his squad. Spurs do have a large squad, and we’ve already talked about the difficulties the club has in registering players (especially in Europe), and so from that point of view it would be hard to find space for Gio as is. That’s without even taking into account Ange’s rumored concerns as to the lack of physicality in Lo Celso’s game.

To put it simply: there’s not a space for Lo Celso at Spurs any longer, and the club are trying to get him to accept a move elsewhere. Of course, he is well within his rights to refuse any transfer and only accept a deal that works with him – but the consequence to that would appear to be a lack of any senior football until the expiry of his contract.

It’s a shame it’s come to this; even as recently as last season I had hopes he could integrate well into Ange Postecoglou’s setup, and at times we did see glimpses of that. Again, though – injuries proved to be Lo Celso’s nemesis, and he just hasn’t been able to put together any consistent time on the pitch. Hopefully he’ll have better luck at his next destination; wherever that may be.