DONE DEAL: Giovani Lo Celso returns to Villarreal on season-long loan

Giovani Lo Celso had a very good loan at Villarreal in the latter half of last season. Now, he’s returning to the same club for another loan for the duration of the 2022-23 campaign. Both Villarreal and Tottenham Hotspur announced the full season loan of Lo Celso via social media.

The biggest obstacle to getting Lo Celso sent to another club has always been financial, and that proved to be the case here. After many weeks of negotiations, the loan ended up being a straight loan WITHOUT a purchase option, meaning if Gio stays at his loan for the entire season he will report back to Tottenham next summer.

However, Fabrizio Romano reported earlier that Tottenham have a break clause in the loan agreement such that if they are able to find a club interested in purchasing Gio outright in January, they will be able to do so without any financial penalty. Under the circumstances, that’s probably about the best they could hope for, considering most of La Liga are experiencing difficulties signing players at the moment.

It’s not clear how much, if not all, of Gio’s salary Villarreal are covering or whether Spurs are subsidizing his wages to get him off of their books. While this feels like another year of kicking Gio’s metaphorical can down the road, if he impresses for Villarreal the way he did last Spring, there’s every chance that another club will be willing to pay actual money for him in January, or next summer.