Tottenham have bid in the region of £53m for Real Betis midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, a fee that would see the North London outfit break their club-record transfer fee, according to reports from BBC Sport.
Lo Celso, 23, has been at Betis since arriving on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in 2018, and following an impressive spell the La Liga side made the deal permanent in April.
The Argentinian midfielder is reported to have a buy-out clause of £88m, with Betis keen to collect a fee as near to that as possible. But with Spurs having entered the table of negotiation, there is a strong likelihood of the player arriving in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for the 2019/20 campaign.
Having scored 16 goals and registering six assists in 45 games for Betis in the 2018/19 campaign, the North London side would certainly be acquiring a player with the ability to contribute to their goalscoring efforts.
Yet if Betis are to cash in on a player they only bought permanently in April the fee will have to be substantial; especially given Lo Celso’s impending appearances at the Copa America which starts on June 14th in Brazil.
Spurs have not signed a player since Lucas Moura arrived from PSG in January 2018, then spending £23m, whilst the move for Lo Celso would see their current record transfer, the £42m spent on Ajax’s Davinson Sanchez, smashed as Daniel Levy begins to accept he must spend big to retain the services of Pochettino in a critical stage of development for the Premier League side.
Pochettino had been coy in his comments regarding Spurs’ arrival in the Champions League final, where they will face Liverpool on June 1st in Madrid, suggesting that if the Lilywhites were to emerge victorious in Europe’s premier club competition he would depart for pastures new.
This will have unquestionably proved alarming to the Spurs hierarchy and Levy, and the club-record bid for Lo Celso, who has 10 caps for Argentina, potentially presents the start of a big summer spend in a move to keep their Argentinian coach who has propelled Spurs into firm domestic and European relevance.
Betis are not in a desperate position to sell their incredibly promising midfielder, but a profit bordering on £35m for a player they only permanently signed two months ago would represent remarkable economic efficiency and present opportunities for re-investment in a squad that finished 10th in La Liga during the 2018/19 campaign.
