Giovani Lo Celso, who signed for Spurs in a record equaling 55 million euros move from Real Betis has failed to hit the ground running at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Widely viewed as a readymade replacement for Christian Eriksen, the Argentine midfielder’s ability to dictate play in the middle of the park was a thing of excitement for the Spurs Fans. But injuries and a lack of consistent performances in the Premier League have raised question marks over his ability of cementing his position in the Spurs starting eleven. Let us look back at how a player who was once labelled as a “perfect” signing for Spurs failed to live up to expectations.
Early beginnings and the move to PSG
Lo Celso came through the youth academy at his hometown club Rosario Central in Argentina. After impressing in his debut season, Giovani caught the attention of a number of European clubs. Ultimately the Argentine midfielder signed a five-year deal with Paris Saint Germain in 2016. He stayed on loan at Rosario till December 2016 and moved to Paris in January. Lo Celso made his debut in the Coupe de France quarter-final against US Avranches, coming on as a substitute for Adrien Rabiot.
He struggled to make a name for himself at PSG as the side was filled with extremely talented midfielders during his time in the French capital. He managed to make just 38 appearances across 2 seasons at the Parc de Princes. Although he impressed in most of his appearances, due to limited first-team action coupled with PSG’s issues of complying with FFP rules he was loaned out to Real Betis in 2018.
Becoming a star at Betis
Giovani Lo Celso moved to Spain and instantly cemented his position as a first-team player for the La Liga outfit. Under the innovative management of Quique Setien, Lo Celso managed to stamp his authority on the team and became an instant fan favorite at Betis.
Setien used the Argentine mostly as a wide central midfielder or as a forward in the team. His versatility as a player as well as his ability to play short, intricate passes while linking up play became fairly evident during his stint in Spain. Quique Setien’s philosophy perfectly suited the best traits of the Argentine. As a wide Central Midfielder mostly playing in a back 3, he dropped deep to collect the ball from the Centrebacks and instantly looked to progress the ball further up the pitch. Lo Celso even had tremendous dribbling skills and averaged at least 4 successful dribbles from Midfield.
Real Betis triggered the option of making his loan move permanent in 2019 after scoring 16 goals in 46 appearances for the team. However, in the summer of 2019, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan with an option to buy.
Why signing Giovani Lo Celso was the right move from Spurs
Prior to his arrival, Spurs were in desperate need of a versatile midfielder who could attack alongside being defensively solid. Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen were out & out attacking midfielders whereas players such as Victor Wanyama and Eric Dier were primarily defensive minded players. Although Harry Winks & Moussa Sissoko had the ability of progressing the ball forwards, they were unable to carry out their duties on a consistent basis.
More often than not, Mauricio Pochettino had to drop Christian Eriksen into a deeper midfield position in order to bring fluidity into their build play. This severely restricted Eriksen’s ability to impact the play in the final third and Lo Celso’s arrival promised to solve this issue for Spurs.
Lo Celso is a player who can play as a Number 8, Number 10, or even as a deep-lying number 6, a role which he took up during his PSG spell. With Lo Celso in the team, Spurs had the license of playing just one defensive midfielder alongside the Argentinian who could prove to be an effective ball carrier as well as carrying out his defensive duties. This would in turn give the forwards like Eriksen, Alli, Kane and Son a better chance of scoring goals through quick ball progression.
Injury Struggles & becoming a key player for Spurs Under Mourinho
After making a few substitute appearances for Spurs at the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Lo Celso sustained a hip injury which kept him out till January. Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino was sacked by Spurs after a poor run of form and was replaced by Jose Mourinho.
Initially, it was believed that Lo Celso would find it difficult to cement his position as a starter for Mourinho, with injuries not helping his cause either. Even though he made the starting eleven only once from November till January, Mourinho reiterated his faith in the Argentine by publicly stating that he loved Lo Celso’s attitude and application on the training pitch.
According to Jose, even when Lo Celso was not starting games, his attitude and desire to prove his worth at Spurs would eventually benefit him, and so it turned out. Having made just one start in 2 months, Lo Celso went on a period of 15 games where he made eleven appearances as a part of the first eleven before the Covid Shutdown.
How Mourinho got the best out of Lo Celso
Jose Mourinho implemented a 4-2-1-3 formation at Spurs which suited the Argentine midfielder. Although Lo Celso had a tremendous defensive work rate, he was at his best carrying the ball forwards and creating goalscoring opportunities for his teammates. With a defensive base of Hojbjerg & Sissoko in a midfield pivot, even players like Winks & Ndombele, Lo Celso had the license to bomb forward and play in between the lines. His ability of picking up the ball in midfield and spreading the play in all directions made him a nuisance to deal with for the opposition. His close control, effective through passes, and ability to make runs from midfield into the opposition box was something that Mourinho managed to get out of him.
Lo Celso’s performances were heavily praised by the Portuguese, who even went on to claim that he wouldn’t swap Lo Celso even with Bruno Fernandes, the Portuguese midfielder who was heavily linked to a move to Tottenham in the summer of 2019 before moving to Manchester United in January 2020. Even though Lo Celso failed to score a substantial amount of goals & assists, his playmaking abilities were appreciated by the Spurs faithful.
After the sacking of Mourinho, Giovani Lo Celso was relegated to the bench in the Premier League. Other than starting cup ties, the Argentine was mostly restricted to substitute appearances in the Premier League. Even though Nuno publicly praised the qualities of the Argentine, he found it tough to incorporate the Argentine in his team on a regular basis. After starting just 2 out of his 7 appearances for Spurs this season in the league, injury has kept him on the sidelines.
Arrival of Conte & what lies ahead
The appointment of Antonio Conte as manager has cast doubt over the future of Lo Celso at Spurs. Conte plays with a back 3 which leaves only 3 spots in the midfield. Although the Italian manager has claimed that he has no problem in working with the Argentine midfielder, his pragmatic style of play doesn’t seem to suit Lo Celso. During his absence, players like Hojbjerg, Winks, Ndombele, and even Dele Alli have featured in the midfield for Spurs with Kane & Son leading the line. Thus, it’s hard to imagine how Lo Celso will work his way into the starting eleven.
Denouement
A player who arrived in Europe with great potential has failed to fulfill his potential, apart from a good season at Real Betis. It’s difficult to understand how a player who is good on the ball, can play in a variety of positions and has tremendous work ethic has failed to settle down and solidify his position in the starting eleven. Lo Celso has failed to provide goals & assists on a consistent basis and has even had to spend a substantial amount of time on the sidelines with injuries, It’ll be interesting to see whether he’ll be able to revive his career under Conte and if not, then he’ll definitely look for a move away from Spurs to revive his playing prospects.
