Barcelona manager Xavi is targeting a move for Tottenham’s Giovani Lo Celso as he believes he would be the ‘icing on the cake’ this summer.
That’s according to AS, who say the Argentine has been recommended by Lionel Messi, who knows him well from international duty with Argentina.
The newspaper reports that Lo Celso’s name was brought up in a summit between Barcelona’s sports leadership ten days ago as a viable option to occupy the position that Messi would have taken up if he’d joined.
It was Xavi himself who ‘insisted on assessing’ the possibility of signing the midfielder from Tottenham, as long as Financial Fair Play allows it.
He’s been a fan of Lo Celso for several years following a conversation with Messi, who labelled him as the best player in Argentina’s squad.
Xavi has followed the Tottenham man ever since and now sees him as the ‘icing on the cake’ for his project as he would add talent to his midfield and a playmaker to a squad that is lacking one.
He has prioritised strengthening other positions in the squad and at the moment his focus is on adding a defensive midfielder before then finalising exits to increase the salary margin at the club.
If that opens up enough that they can move for Lo Celso they will and they will try to do a loan deal with Tottenham ‘without ruling out’ a purchase clause being included.
