Tottenham Hotspur's player recruitment has been impressive over the past few seasons. The London club have managed to bring in the likes of Brennan Johnson, James Maddison, Yves Bissouma, Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski for relatively affordable prices.
With the addition of Ange Postecoglou during the summer, Spurs have gone from a team that finished eighth in the Premier League last season to one that is currently locked in an early title race with Manchester City, Liverpool and north London rivals Arsenal, having recovered well from the devastating loss of record scorer Harry Kane.
However, there are still some names on the books that serve as a reminder to the Lilywhites of what can happen when recruitment goes wrong, but one of these players could be in line for a return to the starting lineup.
James Maddison injury update
Spurs lost 4-1 on Monday night at home to Chelsea after going down to nine men in the second half with the game at 1-1. What will be more worrying for Postecoglou is the loss of both Maddison and van de Ven before the interval. The latter is currently facing months out after a significant hamstring strain while Maddison is still being assessed ahead of Tottenham's clash with Wolves at the weekend, although it's unlikely that the England international will feature at Molineux.
Having signed in the summer for £40m, the 26-year-old has had an emphatic impact at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, registering eight goal contributions in 11 games under Postecoglou. Maddison's attacking counterpart Son Heung-Min has stated that it has been "a joy" to play with the former Leicester City playmaker ever since his arrival from the King Power Stadium.
The man to replace James Maddison
Losing Maddison will certainly impact the rest of the team but it means that Postecoglou may be forced to turn towards Giovani Lo Celso in the meantime.
The Argentine has made merely two appearances for Spurs in the Premier League this season, totalling 24 minutes on the pitch. Lo Celso's only start of the campaign came in an EFL Cup defeat against Fulham where he was replaced at half-time.
2019/20
37
2
3
2,151'
2020/21
28
5
1
1,526'
2021/22
19
1
2
917'
2023/24
3
0
0
69'
Stats via Transfermarkt.
Lo Celso initially moved to Spurs on loan under Mauricio Pochettino back in 2019 but the deal was made permanent for £27.5m in January during Jose Mourinho's stint in the dugout. Nonetheless, his time in England hasn't worked out and The Athletic's Tottenham journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke even labelled the midfielder as a "flop", having spent the last eighteen months out on loan at Villarreal while sitting on £70k-per-week.
While reports are claiming that the English side have slapped a £15m price tag on Lo Celso's back, following Maddison's injury, the Argentina international could be handed one last chance to prove he still has a future at Spurs.
Lo Celso's stats last season
Ange's only other solution would be to deploy Rodrigo Bentancur in a more advanced position, but the Uruguayan is not as creatively savvy as his South American counterpart. Given the duo have played a combined total of 54 minutes in the Premier League this season, a comparison of their stats from the previous campaign will offer a better conclusion as to who should start in the absence of Maddison.
Straight off the bat, Bentancur averaged 0.3 goals per 90 playing for Spurs last season to Lo Celso's 0.16 goals per 90 at Villarreal, although the latter registered a higher xG per 90 with 0.2 compared to Bentancur's 0.13 xG per 90, according to FBref.
However, when it comes to assists and chance creation, the duo aren't even close. Lo Celso averaged 0.24 assists per 90 from 0.24 expected assists per 90 last term, while the former Juventus man managed just 0.12 assists per 90 from an xA of 0.04 per 90.
Lo Celso was better at progressing his side up the pitch too, having averaged 7.76 progressive passes per 90 to Bentancur's 4.55 despite predominantly playing in a higher position. The Spurs "flop" also recorded 2.32 passes to the penalty area per 90 and 2.48 key passes per 90 to Bentancur's 0.54 passes into the box per 90 and 0.66 key passes per 90. In addition, Lo Celso filed 2.8 progressive carries per 90 with Villarreal in comparison to Bentancur's 1.56.
Bentancur is much more defensively proficient than Lo Celso but with Postecoglou looking for a direct replacement for Maddison, Lo Celso is arguably and quite possibly surprisingly the best man to fill his tricky boots.