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Giovani Lo Celso has been heavily linked with a move to Tottenham, and the youngster showed on Thursday that he is the perfect man to fill Mousa Dembele’s shoes in north London.
According to BBC, Spurs had a €60m (£53m) bid for Lo Celso rejected at the end of May, and speculation surrounding the Argentine has only increased since then.
This week, a report from Marca Argentina claimed Real Betis are confident their demands for the player will be met – he has an £88m release clause.
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The Daily Express have even claimed that Betis’ fitness coach, Marcos Alvarez, who worked under Juande Ramos at White Hart Lane between 2007 and 2008, has recommended north London to the player.
But where would he fit? Is he a Christian Eriksen replacement? A midfield partner for Moussa Sissoko? Well, the numbers from his performance against Paraguay look eerily similar to those of a very popular Belgian midfielder.
Argentina drew 1-1 with Paraguay during the early hours of Thursday morning. Newcastle’s Miguel Almiron produced a stunning assist to open the scoring before Lionel Messi tied things up with a second-half penalty.
Lionel Scaloni’s side have been heavily criticised for their poor performances in recent years and this summer’s Copa America is no exception, but Lo Celso put in an impressive shift.
The 23 year-old was one of the only players in blue and white stripes providing some attacking fluidity, constantly trying to move the ball forward with one shot, one key pass and two successful dribbles, per Whoscored.
Dembele, who was known by Spurs fans for being impossible to get the ball off, averaged 2.4 dribbles and 0.6 key passes per game in his last full season of Premier League action (2017/18). Both players are supreme dribblers with an eye for an incisive pass.
As good as the pair are at progressing the ball though they are both exceptional at breaking up the opposition’s play too, and Lo Celso topped Dembele’s 17/18 average of 1.3 tackles per game with a whopping five interventions on Thursday.
Both players are well-rounded midfielders with excellent close control, progressive dribbling, forward passing and an impressive defensive contribution to match.
Where they differ is in front of goal, where Lo Celso grabbed 16 strikes and six assists this season while Dembele mustered just ten goals and 12 assists in a whopping 249 Spurs showings.
Granted the Belgian is usually deployed in a slightly deeper role, but Lo Celso is basically Dembele with added goal threat and creativity, and his performance against Paraguay showed exactly how well-rounded a player he truly is.