Villarreal have ‘reached an agreement in principle’ with Tottenham Hotspur to sign Giovani Lo Celso on loan, but need to get rid of a player first.
That’s according to El Periódico Mediterráneo, who say the Spanish side are trying to be ‘ahead in their planning’ as they eye a late move for the Spurs man.
They report that Villarreal have already reached an agreement with Tottenham for a loan deal for the Argentine midfielder, while they have also held positive talks with Lo Celso about the move.
He prefers a move back to Spain rather than France, where Lyon are also keen, as he enjoyed success in La Liga with Real Betis and knows Villarreal boss Unai Emery.
He was his manager at Paris Saint Germain before he was sold to Betis, and it is felt his presence has been ‘key’ to this move and the player putting them at the top of his list.
However, at the moment, any deal is ‘absolutely’ dependant on the Spanish club getting a player off their books first.
They are looking to get rid of Dani Raba or Ruben Pena, but the former has rejected a move to the second division, the only place where he has offers, and the latter is currently out injured until March, so there’s no interested parties.
Paco Alcacer was another who could leave, but he’s ‘declined any possibility’ of leaving the club for the time being.
Thus a move for Lo Celso has to be put on hold, despite there being an agreement in place with Tottenham and Villarreal knowing he would be a ‘great reinforcement’ on deadline day.
