Tottenham respond to strong Barcelona interest in overlooked star after two more suitors emerge

Tottenham Hotspur have completely ruled out a January departure for Barcelona target Giovani Lo Celso, according to reports.

Lo Celso has been linked with Barcelona after Gavi suffered an ACL injury that has ruled him out for the rest of the season. After playing in La Liga before for Real Betis and Villarreal, the Argentina international appeals to Xavi’s side.

Reports have suggested Barcelona could try and talk Tottenham into sending them Lo Celso on loan for the second half of the season to restore his market value after he failed to start a Premier League game under Ange Postecoglou.

However, an update from the Evening Standard has confirmed that Tottenham will reject any offer that comes their way for Lo Celso in January – despite a couple of other La Liga sides joining the race to sign him as well.

Atletico Madrid and former club Real Betis – from whom Tottenham originally signed him in 2019 – have been named as the other contenders to take Lo Celso back to the Spanish top flight in the report.

All three of the suitors seem set to be disappointed, though, since Tottenham have decided to keep the midfielder until the summer at least.

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The reason behind their decision is an obvious one: their midfield will also be deprived in the winter when Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr go to the Africa Cup of Nations, representing Mali and Senegal respectively.

Not wanting to leave themselves short, they will not accommodate anyone else who wants to fill a vacancy with Lo Celso – even though he is a slightly more attacking midfielder than those two.

Therefore, the 27-year-old will be hoping for an increased role in the new year, which is not implausible after he impressed during pre-season following his return from the Villarreal loan.

Lo Celso hoping for increase in gametime

Indeed, one of the main reasons Lo Celso has not earned much playing time under Postecoglou is merely his recent injury record.

During his only start of the season so far, in the Carabao Cup against Fulham, Lo Celso had to go off at half time with a hamstring injury, which kept him out of their next four Premier League matches.

As long as he can get back to full fitness, he should finally be able to kickstart his second chance with Spurs from the winter onwards.

To date, Lo Celso has played 88 times for Tottenham – more than any other of his previous clubs – and has scored eight goals and provided six assists.

His contract in north London is only due to last until the end of next season, which will add further incentive for him to perform well between now and the summer when he gets his chance.

With Lo Celso off the menu for Barcelona, the reigning La Liga champions will have to look elsewhere to fill the void left by Gavi.

Other sources have suggested they could accelerate their plans to bring Liverpool veteran Thiago Alcantara back to the club if he can shake off his own injury issues, for example.