Barcelona eye Tottenham Hotspur’s Giovani Lo Celso as plan B in midfield if Thiago pursuit fails
Barcelona are apparently keeping track of Giovani Lo Celso’s situation at Tottenham Hotspur this summer.
According to El Nacional, they are prioritising a move for Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara to complete their mini midfield rebuild this summer. The 32-year-old Spaniard is in the final year of his contract at Anfield and is rated at €12million.
But it is claimed that they could look at Lo Celso (27) as ‘plan B’ if their pursuit to bring Thiago back to Catalonia fails. Now this is an interesting one.
If Ange Postecoglou doesn’t see the Argentina international as part of his plans in N17, interest from Barcelona could be hard to resist for any player. He will have to compete for minutes there as well.
What should Spurs do?
Xavi Hernandez has Pedri, Gavi, Frenkie de Jong, Pablo Torre, Franck Kessie and newly-signed Ilkay Gundogan in midfield. But Barca have regularly flexed their club’s clout in the market to sign players.
Lo Celso may find it easier to compete for minutes at a team playing regularly in the UEFA Champions League and winning domestic titles than a team who isn’t doing that. He is a talented player.
Lo Celso has finesse in his game and is an adept playmaker. But James Maddison’s signing from Leicester City surely means Spurs are aware of which midfielder they want to entrust with the creative duties.
The former Real Betis star wasn’t preferred under Antonio Conte and was allowed to join Villarreal on loan last season, which means he is quite familiar with different playing styles in La Liga.
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If we don’t want to make him an important first-team player, perhaps this is a good chance to offload him. He has entered the final two years of his contract (Transfermarkt).