Tottenham Hotspur will reportedly sign Giovani Lo Celso… on loan.
Tottenham Hotspur are set for a busy deadline day, and the first priority is a deal for Real Betis playmaker Giovani Lo Celso.
Spurs have been chasing the Argentinian all summer long, and The Telegraph reported last night that a move was close, with a £55million deal in the pipeline.
However, there appears to have been a late twist in the tale, with BBC Sport reporting that whilst Lo Celso is close to joining Spurs, it’s actually going to be a loan deal.
That loan would include an option to buy next summer, and it looks like Daniel Levy has struck with a new masterstroke just before the deadline.
Some may wonder just why Betis would be willing to loan Lo Celso out, but the key is in their sell-on clause to his former club Paris Saint-Germain, given that the French club are entitled to 20% of a future fee.
Yet by sending Lo Celso to Tottenham for a considerable loan fee and bringing down the permanent fee, the cash PSG take is heavily reduced – so Betis are happy with this arrangement, receiving more money than they otherwise would have done.
For Spurs, it means that they have freed up a little unexpected cash on deadline day, which could be key in their hopes of luring Juventus ace Paulo Dybala to Tottenham as, The Independent claim that he could join today.
The Lo Celso saga has gone from being told to pay his £92million release clause, to getting him on loan on deadline day and freeing up cash for another big signing – so whilst Levy’s brinkmanship is difficult to watch at times, he appears to have pulled off a masterstroke with Lo Celso.
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