Hit or miss? Assessment of Giovani Lo Celso’s Tottenham spell so far

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Tottenham Hotspur followed up the summer signing of Tanguy Ndombele with the loan of Giovani Lo Celso from Real Betis (with an option to buy, BBC Sport).

Spurs fans breathed a collective sigh of relief as the Argentine playmaker was officially announced by the club, after the 5pm transfer deadline had passed on August 8.

With the second international break now upon us, perhaps the time is right to assess Lo Celso’s time at the club so far.

Background

Tottenham knew Lo Celso was a talented player after he scored 16 goals and made six assist for Betis in all competitions in 2018/19.

Lo Celso was actually on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, but made his move permanent in April 2019 after the Spanish outfit triggered their option to buy clause – four months later, he signed for Spurs.

With Christian Eriksen’s contract running down and it still looking unlikely he will agree an extension, it appears that Lo Celso is destined to be the Dane’s long-term replacement.

How’s he looked so far?

Frustratingly for Spurs fans, Lo Celso has been unable to really show anything for his new club so far.

He’s made three appearances totalling just 44 minutes of actual pitch time, and he is currently sidelined with a hip injury he sustained during the last international break. He is set to return to action in November, although football.london report he is to resume full training ‘very soon’.

Verdict

Unfortunately Lo Celso can only be branded a miss having hardly featured so far.

He may be injured now, but Dele Alli’s injury problems and Christian Eriksen’s poor form should have led to the 23-year-old getting more pitch time than he has, although it might not necessarily be his fault given there is always an adaptation process.

His time in a Spurs shirt will come and Pochettino has called him ‘incredible’ (via Evening Standard), but right now his transfer has been massively underwhelming after a whole summer was spent trying to get the deal over the line.