Barcelona initiate cut-price Tottenham raid after Postecoglou wields axe on midfielder
Tottenham duo Giovani Lo Celso and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Spanish giants Barcelona look set to benefit after Ange Postecoglou reportedly decided to sell Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, and the Argentine could be on the move for a low price.
Lo Celso originally moved to Tottenham on loan in August 2019, in a deal worth around £13million. After he impressed in North London, Tottenham opted to make the move permanent for a further £27m in July 2020.
Overall, the creative midfielder has made 87 appearances for Spurs, registering eight goals and six assists. However, he has fallen down the pecking order in recent seasons and this led to two loan spells at Villarreal between January 2022 and June of this year.
Lo Celso is now back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, though it does not look like that will be the case for long. When analysing his new squad, Postecoglou placed Lo Celso in the group of players that he does not need. Instead, Postecoglou has placed his trust in new signing James Maddison alongside Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur, with the latter recently returning from a long injury lay-off.
Due to the manager’s decision, Lo Celso has only played three times this season, amounting to a total of just 69 minutes.
The 27-year-old will clearly want to leave Spurs in the January transfer window in order to become an important player at another club and get his career back on track.
Surprisingly, Lo Celso could secure a big move to Barca next. Blaugrana boss Xavi is a big fan of Lo Celso and has even spoken about the Spurs man with Lionel Messi. Reports have claimed that Lo Celso impressed Messi in previous Argentina training camps.
On Wednesday, it emerged that Spurs have officially put Lo Celso up for sale. And it was even claimed that the 46-cap international could be on the move for just £15m. That is far less than the £40m Spurs spent on him through his original loan fee and permanent signing.
Barcelona given Giovani Lo Celso opportunity
Italian source Tutto Juve have now provided an update on the situation. As their name suggests, they are focused on Juventus’ prospective move for Lo Celso.
Juve are aiming to make him their new playmaker, though it is currently Barca who are leading the charge. The report states that Postecoglou’s arrival heralded the ‘final sentence’ for Lo Celso’s time at Spurs.
Xavi ‘has not forgotten’ about the player and is planning a January rescue mission to take him to Catalonia. And the potential £15m fee is labelled as ‘cheap’, given Lo Celso’s obvious talent – something he has not been able to demonstrate in a Spurs shirt on a regular basis.
Xavi will be delighted that Lo Celso has been put on the market for a cut-price fee. He is operating with a limited budget due to Barca’s tricky financial situation, but £15m is within his reach.
It seems Postecoglou will get his way by offloading Lo Celso this winter, which could make room for a new midfielder to arrive at Spurs.
