Barcelona 'learn asking price for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Giovani Lo Celso'

The Argentina international is now back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after spending around 18 months on loan at Villarreal.

At one stage, the expectation was that he would be allowed to depart North London, despite a couple of promising outings in pre-season.

However, Lo Celso has endured a frustrating start to 2023-24, featuring for just 61 minutes across two appearances in the Premier League and EFL Cup.

That is partly down to a hamstring injury that was sustained earlier in the campaign, with the 27-year-old having not featured in the last three top-flight squads.

Nevertheless, with Spurs continuing to impress under recently-appointed head coach Ange Postecoglou, it is becoming more likely that Lo Celso will not remain at the club in the long term.

According to Sport, the Premier League giants have already decided that they would be willing to accept an offer of €15m (£13m) in the January window.

With Lo Celso possessing a contract until 2025, Spurs may feel in a position to demand that valuation, yet much may depend on the player's game time until the turn of the year.

The playmaker only completed the 90 minutes on three occasions across 22 outings for Villarreal last season, a consequence of suffering a mid-season injury that kept him sidelined for four mouths.

Real Betis - where Lo Celso produced the best form of his career - are allegedly the most interested in his signature at the present time.

Nevertheless, Barcelona boss Xavi is continuing to monitoring the situation, aware that Lo Celso may represent a shrewd piece of business at a time when the Catalan giants are having to walk a financial tightrope.

The report adds that the arrival of Joao Felix could complicate matters, though, with the Portugal international taking up significant space on the club's outgoings.

While Aston Villa were linked with Lo Celso during the summer transfer window, Unai Emery - who worked with him at Villarreal - has since moved on to other targets.