The Athletic: Giovani Lo Celso could miss World Cup with a torn muscle

It may not feel like it, but Giovani Lo Celso is still technically a member of Tottenham Hotspur, even if he has basically one and a half feet out the door. But there’s bad news for Gio and for the Argentine national team — according to Tim Spiers at The Athletic (£), Gio is likely to miss the World Cup this month after sustaining a torn quadricep with his loan team Villarreal.

Gio is apparently fighting with the doctors at Tottenham and Villarreal over this injury — the Spurs doctors (who technically still have a say in the matter as he’s still a Spurs player) are pushing for Gio to undergo surgery to correct the issue, but Gio doesn’t want to on the off chance that he could still somehow feature for Argentina. But it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

I know we groan about international friendlies and the Argentine Football Association. I also know that Gio’s (and Cuti’s) insistence on playing for Argentina at every opportunity has been a major issue for the club in the past, especially during the COVID years. (Who could forget the fracas that involved a rivalry match against Brazil, COVID officials stopping a match in progress, and the sovereign nation of Croatia?)

But on a human level, this is just awful for Gio and I feel for him. It’s the dream of every professional footballer to represent their country in a World Cup, and this would’ve been Gio’s big moment. Now that moment is gone due to injury and it sucks.