Tottenham transfer news: Daniel Levy willing to accept £18m bid to ditch star in January window

Tottenham are reportedly willing to sell one star on the cheap in the January transfer window, as they look to raise funds to improve Antonio Conte’s squad.

Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici are expected to heed Antonio Conte’s advice over the state of his current first-team squad and look to add at leat a couple of quality players to it in the new year.

However, offloading one or two players in the same window will clearly help to balance that squad.

And one player who is expected to move on permanently is midfielder Giovani Lo Celso.

A report from Football Insider claims that Tottenham are willing to offload the Argentine for around £18million.

That figure would see a potential loss of £9m on the player they signed for £27.2m in January 2020 after an initial loan deal.

The 26-year-old impressed in the early stages of his career in north London. That earned him a permanent deal but he failed to establish himself under Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and then Conte.

As a result, Lo Celso was loaned out to Villarreal in the second half of last season. The midfielder then returned to the same club for the current campaign.

Conte happy to offload Lo Celso

Lo Celso has so far made 11 appearances for the LaLiga side this season and could make a permanent switch in the new year.

Football Insider adds that the Spanish giants are keen to get a cut-price deal in January.

That will be no issue for Conte, who does not see a future for the midfielder in north London.

Lo Celso has made 84 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham, scoring nine goals in that time.

The Argentina international, who has won 41 caps for his country, appears to be more suited to playing in Spain.

He joined fellow playmaker Tanguy Ndombele in being loaned out over the summer.

Tottenham lack of creativity still an issue

The irony there, however, is Conte’s side being accused of lacking a creative midfield force this season.

Conte has recently tried playing a three-man midfield after seeing his side outnumbered there in recent games.

However, none of the central midfielders he currently has in his squad are capable of playing in a No.10 role.

The only one who could arguably adapt to that role is Rodrigo Bentancur, who has excelled playing in a slightly more advanced position.

The Uruguayan notched a late winner as Tottenham came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Bournemouth on Saturday.

Conte’s men are next in action when they face Marseille in a huge Champions League clash on Tuesday.

If they avoid defeat in France they will do through to the knockout stage. However, they will have to do it without Conte on the sidelines after his red card against Sporting Lisbon.

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