Jose Mourinho Won’t Replace Lo Celso with Bruno Fernandes

Jose Mourinho, the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, has described Giovani Lo Celso, his 24-year-old midfielder, as a fantastic player who has not gotten to his “end product” yet. The iconic manager said the youngster has proven that he is not a spoilt child but a player that has done what he likes as a manager.

Mourinho stated this when asked whether he has any regret that Tottenham Hotspur didn’t go for Portuguese and Manchester United‘s raving midfielder, Bruno Fernandes instead of the Argentine midfielder, Lo Celso. In his usual element, Mourinho stressed that he would not swap Lo Celso with not just the 25-year-old Manchester United midfielder but for any other player in the world.

“If Giovani Lo Celso was the player that came to Spurs [instead of Bruno Fernandes], then I would say I wouldn’t change Giovani Lo Celso for any player. [I wouldn’t swap Lo Celso] for any player. It’s not just for Bruno, but for any player”, Mourinho insisted.

Giovani Lo Celso Vs Bruno Fernandes

Fernandes was at the verge of signing for Tottenham Hotspur in 2019 summer transfer window under the former manager of Spurs, Mauricio Pochettino. While the negotiation was ongoing, the management of Tottenham decided to go for a loan deal with Real Betis’ midfielder Lo Celso. The Argentine joined the club last summer on loan which led to the collapse of the negotiation for Fernandes.

The Portuguese midfielder then joined Manchester United in January 2020 for £68 million transfer fee. While the Argentine midfielder signed a permanent deal worth £27 million with Tottenham under Mourinho in January.

Like Bruno Fernandes, Giovani Lo Celso’s deal would last for 5 years. But unlike Fernandes, he has not been enjoying the kind of media attention even under Jose Mouronho like the Portuguese midfielder under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United.

For instance, since Lo Celso joined Tottenham Hotspur at the beginning of this prolonged season, the Argentine midfielder has scored 2 goals and made 1 assist in 30 appearances in all competitions. While Fernandes who started playing for Manchester United in February 2020, has played 8 times in the Premier League, scoring 5 goals and has made 3 assists so far.

Jose Mourinho Defends Giovani Lo Celso

Still, Jose Mourinho wants the world to know how great the Argentine midfielder is and can be in the nearest future. He also wants the world to know how Lo Celso handled the hard times where he was not enjoying as much game time as the Argentine expected.

Mourinho said: “I came to the club and he wasn’t playing. I think the only match he started was Red Star Belgrade away in the Champions League – apart from that he was not playing. When I arrived I went in other directions and he did exactly what I love a player to do: ‘I’m going to show you’.

“[There was] no spoiled kid reactions, no crying, no moaning, no agents and family throwing messages to the press and to the social media. It was just between him and me: ‘I’m going to show you’, and he showed me step-by-step. The way he was working every day, the way he was coming to matches, the way he was changing matches.

“I remember the match against Liverpool: he was on the bench, he came on for the last half-an-hour and he changed the game. The only thing that didn’t happen was us changing the result because we were so unlucky, but he changed the game.

“When he had his first start: ‘Goodbye, I give you no chance and this place is mine’. At this moment, what people can see from him is an injured player playing, or a player that during the week is not working like the others.

“He’s working with lots of different conditions to try to play and to try to resist until the end of the season so what you see from Gio now is not the end product – he’s a fantastic player for us.”

Tottenham is currently sitting 8th on the league table with 45 points in 31 matches. They have a game against 10th placed Sheffield United this evening. A win against Sheffield tonight will see Tottenham replace Arsenal football club on the 7th spot.