£68m down the drain: Spurs dud has stolen a living for over 130 weeks, he must be sold - opinion

Giovani Lo Celso’s stock could rise after an impressive loan spell away from Tottenham Hotspur, and the north Londoners shouldn’t hesitate in cashing in on their club-record flop.

After signing in a record-equalling £55m deal from Real Betis in the summer of 2019, the Argentinian midfielder has struggled to make his mark in England.

His 84 appearances in a Lilywhites shirt drew only eight goals and six assists, as per Transfermarkt, meaning he averaged a direct contribution just once every 328 minutes.

Considering he not only cost an extortionate amount from chairman Daniel Levy’s pocket but was also widely touted as a long-term replacement for Christian Eriksen in a creative role, those returns are nothing short of embarrassing and disastrous.

The Dane was rocking up an average of one goal or assist every 151.6 minutes – effectively providing double the amount of the former Paris Saint-Germain man in half the time.

Lo Celso is even among Spurs’ highest earners, raking in a whopping £100k-per-week and when factoring in what the club have spent on his salary and his transfer fee, then it becomes rather alarming.

In total, the 25-year-old, who is now valued at just £25m by CIES Football Observatory, has cost Levy and co an eye-watering £68m in over 130 weeks, and counting.

Luckily for Spurs, though, the 5 foot 10 flop has found his feet back in LaLiga for Unai Emery’s Yellow Submarines.

Across nine appearances, Lo Celso has only dropped below an average 7.0 match rating on two occasions, whilst Villarreal have only tasted defeat once since his arrival, as per SofaScore.

Only top goalscorer Gerard Moreno and skipper Dani Parejo have managed to have a better impact on the side this campaign, according to WhoScored, who