Barcelona interested in 27-year-old Argentine international midfielder – report

According to reports from Fernando Polo of Mundo Deportivo, Giovani Lo Celso is one of the players Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez wishes to sign for next season.

The Argentine International has been a regular performer at the top level for a while now. His market value, however, plummetted in recent years and it is only over the past season that Lo Celso has found his footing again.

The midfielder began his senior career at Rosario Central in Argentina and was spotted early by Paris Saint-Germain at the age of 20. Eventually, however, he shifted base to Spain where he played for Real Betis in the 2018-19 season.

Los Verdiblancos loaned him to Tottenham Hotspur in 2019 for a fee of €16 million before the English giants triggered the clause to purchase him worth €32 million.

Lo Celso’s time in London was short, for he soon moved to Villarreal on loan in January 2022. The Argentine international also spent the last season on loan with Quique Setien’s side and has impressive stats in La Liga to back him.

In just 22 appearances for the Yellow Submarines, Lo Celso scored two goals and provided three assists for the club. Moreover, he created six big chances with close to 1.5 key passes per game.

Lo Celso is no stranger to La Liga considering his multiple stints in the league. Beyond that, since Lionel Scaloni took over the reins of the Argentine national team in 2018, the 27-year-old has the second-highest number of assists with La Albiceleste (10), with only Lionel Messi managing more (14).

Barcelona already have Pedri, Gavi, Pablo Torre, Franck Kessie and Frenkie de Jong competing for two spots in the attacking midfield. Ilkay Gundogan’s likely arrival would take that list to six names.

However, Torre is set to be loaned out while Barcelona are looking to sell Franck Kessie. On top of that, Xavi is keen to add another creative midfielder to his ranks, someone who can lay on forward passes for Robert Lewandowski – something that was a problem for the team last season, especially when Pedri was unavailable.

For now, the Catalans are looking to wrap up the signing of Vitor Roque as their priority whilst also scouting the market for quality defensive midfielders.

As for Lo Celso, he is not a priority right now and any move for another midfielder beyond Gundogan would depend on the Financial Fair Play situation, with Barcelona also looking at Espanyol’s Sergi Darder.