Some Spurs fans took to Twitter to show appreciation for Giovani Lo Celso, following positive comments on the midfielder from José Mourinho.
Mourinho’s Tottenham will travel to Villa Park this Sunday as their winter break comes to an end and they set their sights back on Premier League action versus Aston Villa. In his pre-match press conference for Sunday’s fixture, Mourinho notably heaped praise on Argentinian midfielder Lo Celso.
As per Ben Dinnery, Mourinho stated that he sees Lo Celso as a player who “can play everywhere”, before declaring that he is “so, so happy” with the 23-year-old midfielder. Lo Celso was a notable absentee for Tottenham in their final game prior to the international break, a 3-2 FA Cup win versus Southampton. However, Mourinho’s comments lead one to believe that the midfielder may make a return to the pitch this weekend.
Some Tottenham fans have shared a similar view to Mourinho on Lo Celso, following the Portuguese manager’s recent comments. Read the pro-Lo Celso comments of some Spurs fans in the tweets below.
One fan even suggested that Lo Celso reminds them of former Spurs star Luka Modric. The Croatian featured 160 times for the Lilywhites during his time in North London, producing 17 goals and 27 assists along the way. Interestingly, the Standard even stated in a title of one of their articles that the former Real Betis man plays like Modric.
?? Josè Mourinho x Lo Celso ??
? "I think he can play everywhere. He can play No 10, No 8, double midfield player with Winks.
? He can play right or left. I think he can play everywhere. I’m so happy with him I like him very, very much." #THFC #COYSpic.twitter.com/KUvd3N4o9C
— Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) February 14, 2020
Such a good player both offensively and defensively
— Matt (@mimszn_) February 14, 2020
Pure Quality ??
— ?? COYS THFC (@JohnStokes0uk) February 14, 2020
This performance reminded me of watching Modric. Classy player, really excited to see him develop further. #coys
— Alexander Lambert (@alexlam50944704) February 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/JamesMichaelCo9/status/1228316265627967488
I think that Lo Celso could be the one to fill the shoes from Rafael van de Vaart. Has the same kind of balance, split vision and technicality.
In short- he could be the man to take us further…— Lily Woody (@lilywoody) February 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/StephenAdams79/status/1228389552403943424
What do we think?
Lo Celso joined Spurs in the summer on a season-long loan, with a future option to buy included in the deal, as per the BBC. While Lo Celso was originally brought into the club during Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure as manager, Spurs exercised their option to buy the midfielder in January, for a reported fee of £27.2 million.
Tottenham signed Lo Celso off the back of an impressive 2018/19 season as a part of a Real Betis side that finished 10th in La Liga. Lo Celso’s average Whoscored.com rating in La Liga last season was 7.06, which was the highest average rating of any member of Real Betis’ squad in the league last season.
Furthermore, Whoscored.com also gave Lo Celso an average rating of 7.8 in the Europa League last season, which is the second-highest average rating of any Europa League player who made more than three appearances in the 2018/19 campaign. Should Lo Celso reach the level of form he enjoyed last season, there seems to be no reason he won’t feature heavily in Mourinho’s Spurs plans.