FINISHING WITH A FLOURISH

As he approaches the second anniversary of his arrival in N17, GIOVANI LO CELSO reflects on his first two years with us, his injury disrupted campaign as well as discussing our challenge for a European place.

- Liam Carson

A new club, country and language, injuries, managerial changes and not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic and behind-closed-doors games – it has been quite the first two years for Giovani Lo Celso as a Spurs player.

Initially arriving on loan from Spanish outfit Real Betis in the summer of 2019, Gio endured a stuttering start to life in north London as, after having made just a handful of appearances off the bench for us in the opening weeks of the 2019/20 season, a hip injury sustained on international duty in the September saw the midfielder’s early progress brought to an abrupt halt.

He didn’t return to action for us until the end of October when we found ourselves in a sticky patch of form yet, given his first start for us on a trip to Crvena zvezda in the Champions League, he made a valuable impact as he opened the scoring in a crucial 4-0 win.

Despite the victory though, frustrations unfortunately continued domestically – a run which ultimately curtailed Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure and saw the arrival of Jose Mourinho.

FROM THE VERY MOMENT I ARRIVED AT THE CLUB, I WAS GIVEN A VERY WARM WELCOME BY EVERYONE. WE HAVE A GREAT SET OF PLAYERS HERE

During the early months under Mourinho, Gio remained on the fringes of the squad, however, with opportunities in the team opening up as fellow attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen departed, our number 18 was given his chance – and he certainly delivered.