DONE DEAL: Gio Lo Celso heading to Villarreal on loan

It didn’t take long for this to go from “probably going to happen” to done deal. Tottenham Hotspur announced that it has come to an agreement with La Liga side Villarreal for a loan for Giovani Lo Celso to the end of the season.

The loan is, as expected, to the end of the season, and Villarreal will have the option to purchase him when the loan expires. Apparently Gio was close to also joining Lyon (alongside Tanguy Ndombele) but Villarreal (and former Arsenal) manager Unai Emery convinced him to play for the Yellow Submarine.

We don’t know yet what the release clause is, so it’s hard to gauge how likely it is that he’ll stay there or end up back at Spurs, but the writing’s clearly on the wall for Lo Celso going forward.

So long, Gio. Sorry it didn’t work out, but be sure to say hi to Serge for us. [Edit: And Juan Foyth! AND and Etienne Capoue!]