Giovani Lo Celso has flown to Spain in preparation for a loan return to Villarreal, after Antonio Conte made it clear the Argentinian midfielder is not part of his Tottenham plans
- Midfielder Giovani Lo Celso is set to join Villarreal on a season-long loan
- There will be no option to buy and he can be recalled as early as January
- Lo Celso has struggled to impress since joining the club from Real Betis in 2019
Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso flew to Spain on Friday night ahead of joining Villarreal on a season loan.
There is no option to buy in the deal and the 26-year-old can be recalled by Tottenham in January.
He is one of a number of players Antonio Conte is trying to offload, along with Sergio Reguilon, Tanguy Ndombele, and Harry Winks.
Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso has flown to Spain ahead of a loan move to Villareal
Spurs are thought to have been close to agreeing moves away for all four, but have found difficulty in completing those deals due to hesitancy from individuals to commit to moves.
Lo Celso now appears to have one gone one step further and is close to completing his loan move.
The midfielder’s role at Spurs has got smaller with each season he has spent at the club, as he played half as many games last season as he did in 2019/20.
Antonio Conte has made it clear that a number of Spurs players are not in his plans
Tottenham beat Southampton comfortably last week but will be tested against Chelsea
Tottenham got their season off to the perfect start last weekend, as goals from Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier and Dejan Kulusevski gave them a comfortable win over Southampton.
They will face a sterner test on Sunday as they face up against Chelsea at Stanford Bridge.
It has been a tense London rivalry in the past few years anyway, but the game could be especially important this season as the two sides battle each other for Champions League qualification.
