Aston Villa Interested in Signing £27m Star Alongside Barkley
Aston Villa are interested in signing Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, journalist Fabrizio Romano has told GIVEMESPORT.
The Villans are eyeing the 28-year-old this summer as Unai Emery knows Lo Celso well from his stints at Paris Saint-Germain and Villarreal.
However, Romano suggests Villa are currently focused on finalising the deal for Luton Town star Ross Barkley, who looks to return to the Premier League after a promising last season.
Emery is reportedly ‘a big fan’ of Barkley, who revitalised his career at Luton despite the club suffering relegation back to the Championship.
The 30-year-old is set to return to Villa Park after three years – in the 2020-21 season, Barkley joined the club on loan from Chelsea and played a key role in Dean Smith’s side.
Romano suggests that Villa will decide on Lo Celso only after Barkley’s arrival – at the moment, talks between clubs are not advanced over the Argentinian’s transfer.
Lo Celso found little playing time under Ange Postecoglou last season – the attacking midfielder returned from Villarreal last summer with hopes he could impress the new boss.
The 28-year-old played just 494 minutes of Premier League football under Postecoglou, contributing four goals in 22 appearances.
Romano, speaking to GMS, revealed that Villa are yet to advance in talks for Lo Celso this summer:
“There is interest also from other clubs around Europe, including Villa, because Unai Emery knows the player so well.
“But at the moment, the focus of Villa in that position is on Ross Barkley, who is expected to join the club from Luton Town, and then we will see if they will decide to enter into conversations for Lo Celso. At the moment, [there’s] still nothing advanced.”
Lo Celso, who first joined Tottenham in August 2019 on loan from Real Betis, impressed under Mauricio Pochettino before Spurs eventually decided to sign him on a permanent £27m deal after the season.
After his first start in 2019, Lo Celso went on to make 108 appearances for Tottenham in all competitions, scoring 10 goals and registering eight assists.
Villa boss Unai Emery could be reuniting with Lo Celso – described as being a “magnificent” player by Sevilla president Jose Castro – for the third time in his managerial career – the Argentinian played under Emery at PSG for two seasons and scooped a domestic treble in 2017-18.
The 28-year-old also enjoyed a successful six-month loan to Villarreal in 2022, where Emery was also in charge before taking the Villa job.
Giovani Lo Celso Tottenham Stats (2023-24)
Games
26
Goals
2
Assists
2
Minutes played
645
