Jose Mourinho has heralded the recent performances of Giovani Lo Celso and credited the Tottenham midfielder for his ‘incredible evolution’.
After a slow start at Spurs, the 23-year-old has been one of Tottenham’s stand-out performers since Mourinho’s appointment.
And his manager was quick to credit the Argentine after Spurs’ defeat to RB Leipzig on Wednesday.
“He is playing fantastic,” Mourinho told reporters. “He played in the middle, played so well. He got a yellow card which is a huge limitation for a player in that position against a fast team in transitions. He managed it so, so well. Then in the last 20 minutes he came to the inside of the right side and again he was phenomenal with and without the ball. He's had an incredible evolution since I arrived.
Lo Celso’s rise to prominence in Mourinho’s side should not be underestimated.
The Argentine has taken on the gauntlet of replacing Christian Eriksen and appears to be thriving after the club made his loan from Real Betis permanent.
Mourinho admits that, initially, Lo Celso was down the pecking order when he took over from Mauricio Pochettino, but the Spurs boss has hailed the midfielder’s progression.
“You can see by my options that he wasn't the first option for me when I arrived. He was barely coming from the bench. Very quiet boy. He's more about work than speaking.
“Step by step I think he's phenomenal. Against Villa was the same, he was injured, on the bench and comes on for the last half an hour, he's playing, really, really well.”
