Aston Villa are reportedly poised to sign Giovani Lo Celso in a deal that will see Tottenham land Jacob Ramsey in return.
Lo Celso has struggled for game time at Spurs and the club are ready to use him as a makeweight in a deal to sign Ramsey. According to reports in Argentina, Tottenham will pay £20million plus Lo Celso in order to secure Ramsey, a highly-regarded 23-year-old midfielder.
Villa have been busy in the summer transfer window, signing Ian Maatsen, Samuel Iling-Junior, Jaden Philogene, Enzo Barrenechea, Lewis Dobbin, Ross Barkley and Cameron Archer. While they have sold Douglas Luiz to Juventus and Tim Iroegbunam to Everton, they still need to balance the books with more sales.
As well as sanctioning the departure of Ramsey, Unai Emery is allowing Moussa Diaby to Al-Ittihad for a club-record sale of £60m. The arrival of Lo Celso at Villa Park will be welcomed gladly by goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who plays with the midfielder at international level for Argentina.
Lo Celso joined Spurs in 2019 but has never settled in the following five years and was loaned out to Villarreal in both 2021/22 and 2022/23. He has made just 108 appearances for Spurs in all competitions, 24 of which came last season.
Emery knows Lo Celso well from his time at Villarreal and clearly believes he can contribute for Villa. Despite struggling at club level, Lo Celso remains highly-rated in his home country and made five appearances in their recent Copa America success, contributing the assist in the 1-0 win over Colombia in the final.
Asked about Lo Celso’s situation in April, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said: "Look, he's a fantastic player, but with all these things you've got to keep the perspective that we're at a big club, we're going to have a big squad and if it is not Gio, it will be someone else that will play that role next year.
“No one will play every game. It doesn't happen. It doesn't happen at all the big clubs, so I am never really worried about the game time players are playing. If they want more game time, there are other clubs where they can do that and I'm looking at contributions. With someone like Gio, like I said he has contributed to us this year and that's been the most important thing for me."
Lo Celso has one year left on his Spurs contract and has been linked with Real Betis as well as Villa. His high standing in Argentina is shown by the fact that Lionel Messi recommended him to Barcelona as a replacement when he left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2020.