Since arriving at Tottenham last summer, Giovani Lo Celso has struggled to establish himself and prove he was worth the effort the club put in to get him.
While there have been flashes of his undoubted talent, and Spurs fans certainly love him, there’s no denying he is yet to hit the heights they expected, especially when it’s considered Bruno Fernandes was second choice.
That has certainly been the case under Jose Mourinho, who recently admitted that the player needed to improve physically if he were to be a regular in his team.
Lo Celso very much needs to impress the Portuguese boss, something his display against Peru last night is sure to have done.
The Tottenham midfielder was one of Argentina’s key players in their 2-0 victory and has earned himself a rave review from TN as a result.
They state that Lo Celso ‘returned with everything’ after missing his nation’s first qualifying games and ‘promises to be a great partner for Lionel Messi’ in future.
It’s claimed that he ‘did not miss the opportunity’ that was presented to him in the first half of the game when he was called on to replace Exequiel Palacios.
He’s described as being ‘the clearest of the team with the ball at his feet’ and showed Argentina’s boss ‘all the good thing he can do’ in the game.
TN explain that it was clear that Lo Celso was building a relationship with Messi, something which can bring ‘great joy’ to the national team in future.
Indeed, they go as far as to liken him to Iniesta and Xavi, saying he showed ‘good feet, ability to touch and show off’ as well as understanding when to ‘accelerate’ the play and when to ‘sleep the ball’.
In other words, it was a complete display, with former player Diego Latorre, who’s now a commentator, even hailing his ‘conceptual clarity’.
All in all, it was a great day for the Tottenham man, who will be hoping he can take this sort of form back to Spurs and convince Mourinho.
