Former Tottenham man labelled 'world-class' after £8m Spurs exit, he's scored six goals in seven starts

‘World-class’ is probably not the first phrase Tottenham Hotspur fans think of when discussing a player who left the Premier League outfit last summer for around £8 million.

Yes, he had his moments.

Particularly during the early days of the Jose Mourinho era in North London. But while the likes of Luka Modric, Harry Kane and Gareth Bale developed into bonafide, modern-day superstars in the white of Tottenham Hotspur, those were heights Giovani Lo Celso would forever agonisingly just short of.

A series of niggling injuries didn’t help, of course. And with Antonio Conte often preferring to operate without a natural number ten – his wing-back system usually saw Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura operate behind Kane – Lo Celso quickly began to feel like something of a forgotten man in the capital.

And, while Ange Postecoglou was a fan of the Argentina international, the closest Lo Celso came to nailing down a regular starting spot in his Spurs side was when James Maddison spent time on the sidelines around Christmas last year.

So, while they say ‘never go back’, Lo Celso’s triumphant return to Real Betis only serves to disprove the theory that no player should ever look to turn back the clock in an attempt to recapture past glories.

Giovani Lo Celso labelled ‘world-class’ after Tottenham Hotspur exit

Lo Celso played the best football of his career at Real Betis in 2018/19. And, after re-joining the La Liga outfit on a bargain deal over the summer, the playmaker has wasted little time in putting those years of frustration behind him.

Lo Celso has scored seven times already in just 12 games. Six in seven La Liga starts. Almost double the amount of goals he netted in his final two seasons at Tottenham combined.

The 28-year-old will go head-to-head with another of Spanish football’s most gifted attacking midfielders on Sunday. Real Betis travel to a Villarreal outfit boasting the mercurial, often masterful, Alex Baena.

And, speaking to Onda Cero, Baena has opened up on his admiration for a player he feels deserves a mention alongside the very best number tens in world football. A player he learned a lot from during Lo Celso’s brief spell under Unai Emery at Villarreal.

“A direct rival is coming [up on the fixture list] and they have to win no matter what, especially at home,” Baena says. “Betis is in very good form. They are a very good team, with a star like Gio and now with the return of [former Real Madrid star] Isco. They add much more to that team.

“They are two world-class players. They have a lot of quality in attack.”

Lo Celso’s La Liga revival leaves Argentina manager pleased

Lo Celso was reportedly a target for Emery’s Aston Villa outfit before returning to Andalusia. The man himself explains that re-joining Real Betis was a decision he made ‘with my heart’, having build up quite the connection with Los Verdiblancos’ famously feverish fanbase.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni, meanwhile, is delighted to see the Rosario-born schemer play regular first-team football again.

Lo Celso, having accumulated over 60 caps, is one of the senior players these days in an Albiceleste squad undergoing something of a transitional period.

“He went to a club where he always felt good,” Scaloni said last month. “He feels comfortable and it is important that he plays.

“In the end, the league [the player plays in] is not essential. But [it is essential] that they play and get minutes.

“That is a basic concept.”