Giovani Lo Celso – Tottenham Hotspur

Giovani Lo Celso, standing at 5ft 10in, is a creative midfielder who joined Tottenham Hotspur from Spanish club Real Betis for a rumoured fee to be in the region of £55m in on 7^th August 2019 after a successful season on loan with the Lilywhites in the 2018/19 season.

The midfielder began his career in his native Argentina with Rosario Central, a club located in his hometown of Rosario, in 2010. Rosario is the birthplace of other famous names such as Lionel Messi, Marcelo Bielsa and Angel Di Maria.

Lo Celso went on to finally make his senior debut aged 19 in an Argentine Primera Division match against Velez Sarsfield which ended in a 0-0 draw in July 2015. The attacking midfielder made 16 appearances in total that season in all competitions, helping his team to a 3^rd place finish – just 5 points behind league champions Boca Juniors.

The 2016 season was Lo Celso’s second at the club, where he made 28 appearances in all competitions, scoring his first senior goal for the club in a 3-0 league win against Club Atlético Colón in February 2016.

In total, the Argentine scored 2 goals and got a further 5 assists as Central secured a 7^th place finish in the league. They unfortunately went on to lose 4-3 in the Copa Argentina (Domestic Cup) Final to River Plate, with Lo Celso making 5 appearances in the competition.

Lo Celso made also made 9 appearances in the Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League), in 2016 which contributed to a cup run that finished in the Quarter Final thanks to a 3-2 aggregate defeat against Colombia’s Atletico Nacional.

After the impressive form that Lo Celso had shown over the course of those two seasons, the midfielder earned a move to Paris Saint Germain on Tuesday 26^th July 2016 for a reported fee in the region of £8.5m. He was promptly loaned straight back to Rosario Central until December 2016.

The midfielder made a further 9 appearances for Rosario Central before going back to PSG. Lo Celso made his PSG debut as a substitute in a 4 – 0 Coupe de France victory against US Avranches, who are now playing in the Championnat National (French Third Tier).

Giovani made 5 appearances for Les Parisiens in all competitions in the latter part of the 2016/17 season which saw them win the Coupe de France, whilst losing out on the Ligue 1 title to AS Monaco.

In the following season (2017/18), PSG won the Ligue 1 title once more with 93 points to their name – 13 ahead of the previous season’s champions AS Monaco in 2^nd place. Lo Celso became a regular in the first team that season, making 48 appearances in all competitions, scoring 6 goals and providing 5 assists.

The league title was the first of a domestic treble, with the Paris giants also winning the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la League titles.

A season long loan to Spanish side Real Betis for the duration of the 2018/19 season came next, making 46 appearances in all competitions, scoring 16 goals. He impressed enough to earn a permanent transfer to Los Verdiblancos.

It was not long after making his stay with Betis permanent that Tottenham signed Giovani Lo Celso on loan from their Spanish counterparts, which became a permanent transfer at the end of the 2019/20 season.

His first start for the club came in a 4-0 Champions League win against 1991 European Champions Red Star Belgrade in November 2019. Overall, the Argentine has made 84 appearances for the Lilywhites, with a record of 8 goals and 6 assists at the time of writing.

2021 was a hugely significant year for the midfielder, winning the coveted Copa America with Argentina.

Lo Celso is currently spending the 2022/23 season on loan at Spanish club Villarreal.