Spurs legend says midfielder has found it ‘very difficult to adapt’ at the club

Ossie Ardiles says there is no doubt about Giovani Lo Celso’s quality as a footballer but insisted that the midfielder had simply failed to adapt to life in the Premier League.

Giovani Lo Celso has been at Spurs for half a decade

Lo Celso has now been at Spurs for five seasons but, barring a spell in his first campaign at the club, the 28-year-old has never really managed to nail down a regular place in the club’s starting eleven.

The midfielder continues to be heavily linked with a return to La Liga this summer (Estadio Deportivo) and with the player having just one year left on his deal, one would expect him to head out of the door before the window slams shut.

Ardiles believes that Lo Celso’s game is simply much better suited to continental football than the Premier League.

When asked why his compatriot has not fulfilled his potential at North London, the Spurs legend told Football.London: “Adaptation. He has found it very difficult to adapt. Again, he’s playing very well for Argentina. He’s not, you know, one of the top 11 and he doesn’t start the games, but he has been instrumental.

“I mean with the goal for Argentina in the Copa America final against Colombia, his assist, it was magnificent. So he has been playing 10 minutes, 20 minutes and so on.

“So he needs, for a player to adapt he needs more, more time, but on the other hand, nobody is going to give you time just because ‘hello you are Giovani Lo Celso you are going to play 90 minutes’.

“No, no, no, no, no. You have got to earn it. Basically, I believe that he is very suited to Argentinian football, for continental football I would say. In England, it’s taking quite a period of time.”

Ardiles loved playing in England

Ardiles himself was a similar player to Lo Celso, relying on his technical qualities rather than physical attributes, but he had no problems adapting to the English game.

When asked how he found the transition, the 72-year-old said: “I loved it straight away. I was a Player of the Year, but the food and the weather, ” he turns his nose up at this point with a grin. “No, no, no, no. Yes and no, because I adapted very, very quickly. Ricky, for example, who arrived with me, it took him quite a while.

“I tried. I remember we were using a translator with Ricky and after two weeks, something like that, I said ‘thank you very much but I don’t like it’. No, no, he was a nice guy, but that was a very good decision as because of that, I had to force myself into trying to speak English better.

“It was a challenge. Yes, it was a challenge for me. I would say football basically was not so much of a challenge, it was immediate. Outside the pitch it was difficult. Yes. I mean the number one thing is the language by far.

“I mean, when an Argentinian player goes to Tottenham, Romero or whoever, they come from Argentina, I say to them the number one thing is the language, the language, the language.

“Study and do whatever you can but to learn English as much and as quick as possible because the quicker you learn, you start to enjoy it and so on. Without English, you enjoy this much (makes a small gap between his fingers), with English you enjoy everything.

“So, for example, the television. I remember at the beginning. I started to understand the BBC News because it’s very proper. That was the first thing, but, for example, the last thing to understand is the humour.

“Like Fawlty Towers, and now they are completely my favourite. Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, Blackadder. Absolutely brilliant. That can only happen if you understand the language. If you don’t understand, you won’t understand Fawlty Towers.”

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Lo Celso’s prospects have also not been helped by the fact that he has always picked up injuries at the worst possible time. The same happened last season, with the midfielder spending a couple of months on the sidelines just as he was getting a run in the side and impressing.

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