Spain: Spurs close to signing Lo Celso... but first they want Dani Olmo

If you thought Spurs might rest on their laurels a bit after completing the record signing of Tanguy Ndombele, well, maybe not. There are several new reports out of Spain that suggest that Mauricio Pochettino really, really wants Lo Celso and that Daniel Levy has upped Spurs’ bid to €68m, closer to the €75m that Real Betis are asking for. That’s exciting!

Take this report from Mucho Deportivo, a website based out of Seville with a title that honestly makes me giggle a bit. It says that Spurs hope to complete a deal hopefully as soon as Lo Celso returns from the Copa America next week, but first they’re going to wrap up the signing of Dani Olmo.

... Wait, who?

Dani Olmo is a Spanish U21 international who recently helped lead his country to the U21 European Championships this summer, scoring three goals in the process including in the final against Germany. A La Masia graduate, Olmo spent his youth with Barcelona but left at age 17 for Dinamo Zagreb, where he has steadily risen through the ranks to become a standout player, with 71 first team appearances before the age of 22. A speedy and tricky midfielder, he is good on the dribble and can play both out wide and centrally.

Naturally, he’s linked with a whole host of clubs in the media, including Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and Manchester United. However, according to this report he already has agreed personal terms with Spurs and that the clubs are also near to an agreement for his transfer. The fee is said to probably be around €25m (£22m).

Want a highlight video with obligatory bad techno music? Oh baby.

So this is WAY out of left field, but I don’t hate the idea. That’s a good price for a young, versatile, Barcelona trained midfielder. He’s supposed to be really good. Spurs are actively trying to make the team younger, and Olmo would certainly fit the bill.

Advanced stats for the Croatian league are hard to find so it’s hard to say too much about Olmo, but for £22m it wouldn’t be difficult to offset his fee by shipping off, say, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Vincent Janssen. Can’t say I know too much about him and it’s hard to say whether there’s a whole lot in this rumor or not, but from the (very) little I’ve seen of him he looks pretty darn good. I say: let’s do it and be legends.