The last five years have been a real rollercoaster for Tottenham Hotspur fans as they have watched Nuno Espírito Santo, José Mourinho and Antonio Conte all come in and fail to rediscover the magic that Mauricio Pochettino was able to create in the late 2010s.
However, the most recent man tasked with that job, Ange Postecoglou, might be on the right track, even if recent results have been less than ideal.
The Australian has instilled an attacking mentality into his squad that has finally seen them play some entertaining football, and with the proper backing, he could bring the club back to the promised land.
That said, several players still aren't at the level required, one of which has seen their value plummet since joining the club under Pochettino's reign.
Giovani Lo Celso's Spurs career
The player in question is Argentinian midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who joined the Lilywhites in the summer of 2019 on an initial loan deal from La Liga side Real Betis, which was made permanent in January 2020.
It was a move met with genuine excitement from fans and pundits alike at the time, with South American football expert Tim Vickery telling Sky Sports that he had a "wonderful left foot", was someone who could "split tight defences", and was practically a "Christian Eriksen replacement."
Unfortunately for all involved, the player Vickery waxed lyrical about in 2019 never emerged in N17. Instead, the club were left with a mediocre midfielder who was described as a "bigger flop" than Tanguy Ndombele in 2022 by The Athletic's Jack Pitt-Brooke – which really is a scathing assessment.
In the five years since his initial move to North London, the former Paris Saint-Germain dud has made just 106 appearances for the Lilywhites, scored ten goals, provided eight assists and spent one and a half seasons on loan in Spain with Villarreal.
Appearances
106
Goals
10
Assists
8
Goal Involvements per Match
0.13
In all, it would be hard to describe the midfielder's time in England as anything other than a disaster, and his current transfer value is a great way of demonstrating that.
Lo Celso's valuation in 2024
Now, due to how the deal to sign Lo Celso was structured in 2019, with it being a loan first, there are some conflicting reports as to how much Spurs actually paid for the midfielder in full. According to The Athletic, the total cost of the transfer was around £42m, which, upon reflection, might be about £40m too much.
Unsurprisingly, due to the Argentine's consistently underwhelming performances in white and his loans away from the club, his valuation has seriously plummeted in the years following his arrival in England.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, the midfielder Spurs writer Alasdair Gold, described as "mischievous" only last year, is now worth just €15m, which is around £13m, or around £29m less than the club paid for him five years ago.
However, perhaps the most damning takeaway from his new valuation is the fact that it is €5m – £4m – lower than Emerson Royal's, who is a player that fans and pundits have been heavily criticising in recent weeks for his dreadful performances.
Starting as a left-back against Liverpool last weekend, the defender rather looked like a fish out of water, with Gary Neville stating that "Emerson’s day just got a lot worse" after Cody Gakpo's goal.
Ultimately, while there are worse players at the club – Royal chief among them – Lo Celso is clearly one who doesn't have a long-term future under Postecoglou.
Therefore, even though he's lost 69% of his value since 2019, Daniel Levy and Co should still look to sell him in the summer before his £70k-per-week contract expires in 2025.
Spurs were rinsed by Poch's "deadwood" who earned more than Van de Ven
The Pochettino-backed flop cost the Lilywhites an awful lot of money.
ByJack Salveson Holmes