Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Darren Bent believes the club’s decision to sign Giovani Lo Celso permanently was an excellent piece of business.
The Argentinian had spent the first half of the campaign on loan at the north London club from Real Betis, but Spurs opted to make the move permanent in January and completed a £27.2 million transfer (BBC Sport). And it seems that despite a slow start to life at Tottenham, Bent believes that the 23-year-old is an excellent signing and is someone who can add lots of creativity to the team – something they have lost with Christian Eriksen leaving to join Inter Milan.
Speaking about Lo Celso joining Spurs permanently, Bent told Football Insider: “I thought Lo Celso was a very, very good signing.
“He’s shown signs, and especially with Christian Eriksen going, you need a lot of creativity in your team and I think Lo Celso, once he gets up to speed because I think he’s still been a bit of a bit-part player, as soon as he gets up to speed he is very, very good.”
As Bent says, in the early parts of Lo Celso’s Spurs career has wasn’t used too often and actually started just one of their opening 19 Premier League matches (Transfermarkt). However, more recently he has broken into the 11, starting in six of their last nine games in the league and FA Cup (Transfermarkt).
Despite not being a regular for the whole season, the Argentinian still averages 13.8 accurate passes in the opposition half per-game, whilst also showing defensive qualities with 3.5 ground duels and 1.3 tackles won per-game (SofaScore).
Those numbers are likely to increase now that he is getting more and more game time. Indeed in his last five appearances, he has provided nine key passes (SofaScore) so he may be the man who fills the creative void left by Eriksen.
Spurs fans, were you happy to see Giovani Lo Celso signed permanently? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
