Marca have now revealed that Villarreal have to raise funds through player sales before making an offer for Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso.
Lo Celso shone during his loan spell at Villarreal during the second half of last season and the Argentine has been linked with a permanent move to El Madrigal this summer (Daily Mail).
Atletico Madrid (Express) and Juventus (CalcioMercatoWeb) and Fiorentina (La Nazione via Firenzeviola) have also been credited with an interest in the 26-year-old over recent weeks.
If there was doubt that Lo Celso was on his way out of Spurs this summer, it was seemingly confirmed when the midfielder did not travel with the Spurs squad to South Korea (Charlie Eccleshare).
Marca have now claimed that Villarreal will ‘try to take advantage’ of Tottenham’s keenness to sell the former Real Betis man by making an offer to sign him permanently.
The report states that Spurs want to recoup as much of the €40m (£33.8m) they paid for Lo Celso in 2019, as possible this summer.
However, it is explained that Unai Emery’s men will ‘not come close’ to offering those figures and would need to make ‘an important sale’ before they can push ahead with an offer for the Tottenham man.
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Spurs Web Opinion
I thought at the start of the summer that Spurs could use Lo Celso as a makeweight in a deal to sign Pau Torres. However, with Lenglet coming through the door, the Spaniard does not seem to be a target any longer.
So, it remains to be seen if Villarreal could raise the funds needed to sign Lo Celso this summer. I would not be surprised if the Argentine ends up at a club like Juventus or Atletico.
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