Intriguing terms of Giovani Lo Celso loan revealed as Tottenham agree deal with Villarreal

Tottenham have sanctioned a loan move to Villarreal for Argentine midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, and Fabrizio Romano has explained what terms are included.

Lo Celso has made 84 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham, registering eight goals and six assists. He originally joined the club on loan from Real Betis in August 2019, before they paid around £27million to sign him permanently the following summer.

Lo Celso fell down the pecking order at Tottenham last season and went on to link up with Villarreal on loan in January.

Despite only managing two goals contributions in 21 outings, the player has done enough to earn a move back to Unai Emery’s team.

Villarreal have fought off competition from Fiorentina to agree a deal with Spurs for Lo Celso.

According to Romano, the transfer is complete and just needs announcing by the two clubs.

Lo Celso will return to Villarreal on loan for the 2022-23 campaign. But Spurs have taken two steps to ensure his future is in their own hands.

First of all, Spurs have not given Villarreal an option to buy the 26-year-old as part of the deal. That is despite previous reports suggesting the La Liga outfit would have this option.

Spurs have been clever when negotiating Giovani Lo Celso exit

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Spurs can interrupt the loan switch in January if another team comes in with a permanent bid for Lo Celso.

Romano ends his tweet by stating it is ‘always up to the player’.

It comes as little surprise that Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici have let Lo Celso go. He was left out of the club’s pre-season tour of South Korea, which showed where he was in the pecking order.

Conte has plenty of options in midfield and this means Lo Celso would not get much game time if he stuck around.

Spurs have been intelligent with the Villarreal deal. If Lo Celso does well at El Madrigal and increases his transfer value, then Spurs can recall him and complete a sale when his stock is high.

There are plenty of examples where teams have agreed a season-long loan for their player and then lost out on money.

But Lo Celso’s previous form at Villarreal suggests he won’t excel this season. Instead, he will probably do OK there, and this will keep Villarreal as the only team interested in a permanent move.

Ideally, Spurs would want to recoup almost all of the £27m fee they paid for him two years ago. However, this is unlikely due to his lack of impact in the Premier League.

transfermarkt value Lo Celso at £19.8m, though a move to Villarreal next summer probably wouldn’t even be worth this much.

Meanwhile, Harry Kane isn’t the only Premier League forward in Bayern’s sights as they reportedly like a Chelsea star too.