SPURS MAKE £53m BID FOR ARGENTINA STARLET LO CELSO
TOTTENHAM have made a £53million offer to Real Betis for midfielder Giovani Lo Celso but the Spanish side are insisting they won’t sell for less than his £88million buyout clause.
Sportsmail reported in March that Lo Celso, 23, was of interest to Tottenham after a stand-out season on loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
However, his performances have alerted other elite clubs around Europe and that has allowed Betis to stand firm on their valuation.
They took up the option to make Lo Celso’s move permanent for £19.8m last month and will sell him at a substantial profit.
He scored 16 goals and made six assists in 45 games for Betis last season and has been named in Argentina’s squad for the Copa America, which starts on June 14.
Lo Celso (below) is a creative midfielder and Tottenham are keen to strengthen as they rebuild that department this summer.
Real Madrid are expected to make an offer for Christian Eriksen but Tottenham have not given up on keeping the Dane. They are working on a £12m deal for Leeds United winger Jack Clarke and will look to offload the likes of Victor Wanyama this summer.
Meanwhile, Kieran Trippier fears his days at Tottenham are numbered and is considering a move away this summer. Trippier, one of England’s best performers at last year’s World Cup, was axed from the squad for the Nations League finals next month by Gareth Southgate.
Tottenham are ready to let Trippier, 28, leave ahead of next season, with Everton, Manchester United and Napoli monitoring his situation.
Spurs will not let the former Manchester City man leave cheaply — but an offer in the region of £30m could be enough. It is understood Trippier has spoken to his teammates about leaving Tottenham this summer. He still has three years left on his contract. Southgate is keen to promote Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka into the senior set-up and with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kyle Walker already ahead of Trippier in the pecking order, the Spurs man has a huge fight to re- establish himself with England. Toby Alderweireld is expecting to stay with Tottenham despite speculation linking the defender with Manchester United as he enters the final year of his contract. Spurs triggered the one-year option in Alderweireld’s deal in January to tie him down until June 2020 but it also activated a £25m release clause. ‘ My only focus is Spurs,’ Alderweireld said. ‘Because of this focus I think I had a good season as well. I have one year left on my contract, so in my head, I will play for Spurs next season.’ Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has been urging his players to remember what it was like to play football as kids ahead of their Champions League final with Liverpool. ‘We all said that as young boys we went out with our friends and said we were going to play the Champions League,’ Erik Lamela said. ‘Now we are going to play in it for real. How many people get the chance to do that? ‘I used to make out I was a lot of players… Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho and then later Lionel Messi.’