Tottenham Hotspur have to play yet another replay in the FA Cup following their 1-1 draw at Southampton.
Jose Mourinho has hinted that Giovani Lo Celoso is close to ‘earning’ a permanent contract with Tottenham following his performance in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Spurs playmaker, Lo Celso, is on-loan from Spanish side Real Betis and Mourinho shared that a deal to sign him on a permanent basis is ‘an option’ and one that is close to happening.
This is a huge credit to Lo Celso because earlier on in the season, Mauricio Pochettino claimed that his summer signing was ‘far away’ from what Spurs were expecting, as quoted by Bleacher Report.
But months of hard work, both on and off the field, has seemingly resulted in Lo Celso leaving Spurs with no choice but to snap him up on a permanent deal.
“It’s not an obligation, it’s an option,” Mourinho told Football London. “I think the boy is earning the decision. He’s making an easy decision for the club to execute the option.
“Incredible evolution since I arrived. Barley played a game. I think he played against Red Star Belgrade, with me a little bit difficult to come in the first few weeks. But he understood what we wanted.
“Good learner. Good kid and I think by himself he made the decision that the club is going to execute the option. That’s normal. He earned it.”
Whilst Lo Celso didn’t get on the scoresheet at St Mary’s, or even have an assist to his name, he perhaps deserved one for his performance.
In the game itself, Lo Celso picked up the ball from deep, got out of a tight area, drove past a number of Southampton players and started a brilliant attack for his side which resulted in Heung-Min Son putting the ball into the back of the net.
With Christian Eriksen’s well-documented departure soon to be coming to an end, there is a creative spot available in that team for someone to take and make it their own. Lo Celso is the obvious answer, and he seems to be taking his chances.
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