A claim has emerged on Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Giovani Lo Celso and his future at the club in the summer transfer window...

What's the talk?

Sky Sports journalist Michael Bridge has revealed that he believes that the Argentine international will be on his way back to Villarreal.

The dud spent the second half of the 2021/22 campaign on loan to the Spanish outfit and he now looks set to return to La Liga.

Bridge told GIVEMESPORT:

"Lo Celso, I expect him to sign for Villarreal. Reguilon, I expected him to go to Sevilla but with them getting Alex Telles, I don’t really know what goes on with him there."

Fabrizio Romano has since claimed that a move will go ahead on a season-long loan with an option for him to sign permanently.

Antonio Conte could be relieved

The Italian head coach could be relieved by this news as he may not want to keep hold of a player who is not good enough to make the squad.

Last season, he was sent out on loan to Villarreal by Conte and this suggests that the ex-Chelsea boss does not see a place for him in the team.

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His move to Spain came after he struggled in the opening months of the campaign. He averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.72 in nine Premier League outings, which placed him 18th in the squad overall.

The midfielder was unable to prove to the manager that he was deserving of regular game time in the middle of the park, leading to his loan move.

Four central midfielders averaged higher ratings than the 26-year-old in the top-flight - Rodrigo Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Harry Winks, and Ollie Skipp - and the club have since moved to bring Yves Bissouma in to bolster their options in that area of the pitch.

In 2020/21, he averaged a score of 6.78, which would still have landed him behind the aforementioned players in 2021/22, and this shows that his performance levels have not been good enough in recent years.

This means that, based on his form for the club over the past two seasons, Lo Celso would be the sixth-choice in that position, which would leave him watching on from the sidelines more often than not - barring injuries.

Conte would surely not want a player wasting their career - and the club's wages - by not being in contention to play serious minutes in the division.

Therefore, he will be relieved by the former Real Betis man's prospective move to Villarreal before the end of the window as it would mean that he does not have to manage that difficult situation this season.