The value of the formerly highly regarded ace has dropped by 69%.
Spurs supporters have witnessed a wild ride over the past five years as Nuno Espírito Santo, José Mourinho, and Antonio Conte have all failed to recapture the magic that Mauricio Pochettino was able to generate in the late 2010s.
Even though the most recent man assigned to that position, Ange Postecoglou, may be headed in the right direction, despite less than perfect results thus far.
Finally, the team is playing some enjoyable football because to the offensive mindset the Australian brought into the team. Given the right support, he might lead the team back to the promised land.
That said, several players still aren’t at the level required, one of which has seen their value plummet since joining the club under Pochettino’s reign.
Giovani Lo Celso’s Spurs career
The player in question is Argentine midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who signed a one-year loan from La Liga team Real Betis in the summer of 2019 before becoming a permanent member of the Lilywhites in January 2020.
At the time, both supporters and analysts expressed real excitement over the move. South American football specialist Tim Vickery told Sky Sports that he had a “wonderful left foot,” that he could “split tight defences,” and that he was essentially a “Christian Eriksen replacement.”
Unfortunately for all involved, the player Vickery waxed lyrical about in 2019 never emerged in N17. Instead, the club were left with a mediocre midfielder who was described as a “bigger flop” than Tanguy Ndombele in 2022 by The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke – which really is a scathing assessment.
The former Paris Saint-Germain washout has made just 106 appearances for the Lilywhites in the five years since his original arrival to North London. He has tallied ten goals, eight assists, and spent one and a half seasons on loan with Villarreal in Spain.
| Lo Celso’s Spurs career | |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 106 |
| Goals | 10 |
| Assists | 8 |
| Goal Involvements per Match | 0.13 |
| All Stats via Transfermarkt | |
In all, it would be hard to describe the midfielder’s time in England as anything other than a disaster, and his current transfer value is a great way of demonstrating that.
Lo Celso’s valuation in 2024
Now, due to how the deal to sign Lo Celso was structured in 2019, with it being a loan first, there are some conflicting reports as to how much Spurs actually paid for the midfielder in full. According to The Athletic, the total cost of the transfer was around £42m, which, upon reflection, might be about £40m too much.
It’s hardly unexpected that the Argentine’s value has drastically decreased in the years after his debut in England given his continuously lackluster performances in white and his loans out of the team.
The midfield player Alasdair Gold, a Spurs writer who was just called “mischievous” a year ago, is only worth €15 million, or roughly £13 million, or about £29 million less than the club paid for him five years ago, according to the CIES Football Observatory.
The fact that his new valuation is €5 million, or £4 million, less than Emerson Royal’s, a player who has been severely criticized by fans and commentators in recent weeks for his awful performances, may be the most damaging revelation from his new valuation.
The defender appeared to be out of his element when playing as a left-back against Liverpool last weekend, as Gary Neville said that “Emerson’s day just got a lot worse” following Cody Gakpo’s goal.
In the end, even though the team has inferior players—Royal being the most notable—Lo Celso is obviously a player who Postecoglou doesn’t think has a long-term future with.
Therefore, before his £70k-per-week contract expires in 2025, Daniel Levy and Co. should still try to sell him in the summer, even though his worth has dropped by 69% since 2019.
