Atletico Madrid join Villarreal in transfer race for Tottenham Hotspur star Giovani Lo Celso
According to the Spanish news outlet AS (h/t The Sun), Atletico Madrid have joined Villarreal in the race for the services of Tottenham Hotspur star Giovani Lo Celso on a potential transfer move. He is on the back of an impressive loan spell at Estadio de la Ceramica, which has earned him interest from Spain.
Lo Celso was allowed to leave out on loan to Unai Emery’s side after falling out of favour with Antonio Conte. As such, it is unlikely that the midfielder can fight his way back into the team, especially with the likely arrival of Yves Bissouma from Brighton and Hove Albion shortly.
The Yellow Submarines are eager to take Lo Celso away permanently but have struggled to meet the £17million valuation set by Tottenham. That has paved the way for Atletico to make their case with the central midfielder, with Diego Simeone being a keen admirer of his qualities.
Can Spurs recoup a decent fee?
There is no doubt that Lo Celso is a solid player, but it is unfortunate how things did not pan out at N17 for him. Injuries in inopportune moments prevented him from getting enough opportunities to prove his worth under Conte. However, it is for the best that both parties part ways with each other this summer.
Playing in La Liga appears to be more suited for Lo Celso as he was quite impressive for Real Betis before we signed him as well. He has done the same with Emery’s side, so that could be one such factor indeed. Then again, he used to play well for Argentina all the while his form was not up to the mark for us.
In any case, the £45million we spent to sign the 26-year-old looks to be down the drains, although his form for the national team and Villarreal should give us enough leeway to recover a reasonable amount this summer. Adding Atleti’s interest into the mix should be enough to raise the price tag a bit under the current circumstances.
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Then again, we have to wait and see whether Simeone’s side would be willing to pay a heightened fee for the South American midfielder this summer. One could argue that such an outcome could be on the cards since they view him as an ideal target for their team, having monitored him in the past as well.
Clearing out fringe players like the Argentine ace would give us more funds to make transfer signings to bolster our squad ahead of the next campaign. Fabrizio Romano did confirm that the North London club would make more additions, so let’s hope that Lo Celso’s sale can be finalised at the earliest to enlarge our budget for this summer.
