There are still a couple of weeks until the transfer window closes, but as things stand, Tottenham Hotspur have had a relatively good summer.
Daniel Levy and Co are clearly planning for the future with the signings of Archie Gray and Yang Min-Hyeok, while the £65m capture of Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke is a clear signal of intent that under Ange Postecoglou, the North Londoners mean business.
However, it's not all about incomings.
Earlier this week, it was confirmed that the much-maligned Emerson Royal left the club to join AC Milan, and based on numerous recent reports, Giovani Lo Celso could be the next one out the door, and the club has already been linked to his dream replacement this summer.
Lo Celso's time at Spurs
It would be hard to deny that Lo Celso has been a massive disappointment at Spurs in the years following his 2019 transfer from Real Betis.
In total, he has made just 108 appearances for the club, scored ten goals, provided eight assists and spent a season and a half on loan with Villarreal due to his underwhelming displays in North London.
With such a mediocre record for the club, it's unsurprising that they want to move him on this summer. Reports earlier in the window suggested that there were plans to use him as part of a swap deal to bring in Aston Villa's Jacob Ramsey.
However, while that deal looks off the table, a report from Football Insider earlier this week revealed that the Lilywhites are now willing to accept a fee as low as £10m for the Copa América winner, as he's not in Postecoglou's plans.
While selling him is best for all parties, the club will still need to sign someone in his place to ensure the squad is large enough to cover all eventualities over the next ten months, and they were linked to the perfect candidate earlier this summer, Fabian Ruiz.
How Ruiz compares to Lo Celso
The link to Ruiz emerged in mid-June, and while there haven't been many more since then to suggest Spurs are keen on the £150k-per-week Spaniard, they should be, as he's the perfect upgrade on Lo Celso.
For example, in 35 appearances for Paris Saint-Germain last season, the 28-year-old "artist", as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, scored three goals and provided seven assists. This means he averaged a goal involvement every 3.5 games, which is quite impressive for a player who moved between defensive, central, and attacking midfield positions.
In contrast, the Argentine international could only score two goals and provide two assists in his 24 appearances last season, which equates to a goal involvement on average every six games.
The one-sided nature of the comparison extends into their national team performances over the summer as well.
While both players were part of a winning team, they played very different roles within their respective squads.
For example, the "box-crashing" Spaniard, as dubbed by data analyst Ben Mattinson, started every game bar the third group match and played a total of 543 minutes of action, in which he scored two goals, provided two assists and was then named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.
In contrast, the Lilywhites ace only started one game for Argentina, played 149 minutes, failed to score or assist a goal, and did not make the Team of the Tournament.
Appearances
6
5
Minutes
543'
149'
Goals
2
0
Assists
2
0
Goal Involvements per Match
0.66
0.00
Ultimately, while Lo Celso certainly isn't a bad player, his tenure in North London has just been incredibly underwhelming, and if Spurs want to ensure they bring in a quality replacement for him this summer, then they cannot go wrong with the £30m-rated Ruiz.
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