Real Betis spent just four million euros to reunite with former attacking midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, with Tottenham receiving the right of first refusal to sign young USMNT midfielder Johnny Cardoso.
While Lo Celso was a decent rotational player for Tottenham, he never came close to reaching the heights he did at Betis in the 2018/19 season, when he scored 9 goals with 4 assists in LaLiga while adding 5 more goals in the Europa League.
Even when he left for Villarreal for a couple of seasons on loan, he never scored more than two goals or registered more than three assists in LaLiga. It seems like Real Betis has always been his home.
Lo Celso is back in the city of Seville and in his first start with the Verdiblancos, the Copa America Final hero for Argentina showed that he does indeed have the stuff.
The Betis star midfielder scored twice in a 2-1 win in LaLiga over Getafe, notching four key passes and four fouls drawn with three dribbles completed in his first start for Betis and second overall appearance since returning from Tottenham.
If Lo Celso keeps playing like this, he will ease the blow of Isco’s injury and could form one of the best attacking midfielder partnerships in the world alongside the former Real Madrid star in the future.
Although Lo Celso plays in a way that may make some at Tottenham wonder if they should have taken him more seriously, it’s pretty obvious that he’s much better for Real Betis. Sometimes, you just fit an environment right.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.