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Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly closing in on a move to sign Real Betis attacking midfielder Giovani Lo Celso.
Earlier this week The Daily Mirror claimed the club could secure the Argentina international for a fee of between £54m and £60m.
And just at the point when optimism surrounding the transfer market was returning to Spurs fans, the rumour mill threw up a link from the footballing stratosphere.
Indeed, according to The London Evening Standard, contact has been made with Juventus over a potential record-breaking swoop for Paulo Dybala.
Any such deal for either Lo Celso or Dybala will follow the acquisitions of Jack Clarke from Leeds United and Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon.
The signing of the latter broke the club’s transfer record and a deal for either of the South American targets could well see that broken for the second time in one transfer window.
Spurs, though, have a chequered history when it comes to buying Argentine players.
There are a number of tiers involved for players brought in from an elite footballing nation.
Football FanCast takes a look at the list of Argentines to strut their stuff in north London, excluding Mauricio Pochettino who, obviously, has never pulled on a Spurs shirt.
Still, he’d probably be quite high up if he had.
[snack_break title=”Appalling tier – Federico Fazio”]
Signed from Sevilla for £8m to add some solidity to the Spurs backline, Fazio did pretty much the exact opposite.
He made 32 appearances for the club despite not really knowing how to tackle and also having a turn of pace that makes the largest of container ships look positively rapid.
In those games, Spurs kept a clean sheet just eight times.
Fazio was eventually sold in 2017 after two loan spells, first back to Sevilla and then to Roma, where he made the move permanent.
Spurs haven’t missed him. Not one bit.
[snack_break title=”Rotation tier – Juan Foyth, Paulo Gazzaniga”]
Juan Foyth is a young defender who could yet blossom into an excellent one. At the time of writing, however, he’s made just 25 appearances for the club.
It would be unfair to put him anywhere else on this list.
The same, really, can be said of Paulo Gazzaniga. Signed as a back-up to Hugo Lloris, he has performed reasonably well whenever he has been called upon but that has not happened all that often.
Indeed, he has made a total of 12 appearances for the club, though he is a good shot-stopper and a calm presence between the sticks.
If he continues to play and impress he’ll rise.
[snack_break title=”Polarising tier – Erik Lamela”]
This one is controversial.
Erik Lamela has been almost ever-present in the Spurs squad since his move to the club in the wake of Gareth Bale’s departure.
He is closing in on 200 appearances for the club and yet he has never really nailed down a spot in the starting XI.
He has scored 29 goals and registered 41 assists, but is not anywhere near as important as the likes of Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen or Heung-Min Son.
Lamela is a quick and skilful and has an excellent eye for a pass but is still regarded as nothing more than a squad player.
He can’t be any higher here, because his contributions must also be weighed against his £25.8m fee; he has not lived up to it.
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[snack_break title=”Understated tier – Mauricio Taricco”]
Signed by George Graham, Mauricio Taricco was a dependable presence on the left side of the Spurs defence.
He made 143 appearances for the club in total, scoring two goals, and was always steady, allying robustness in the challenge to a desire to sprint forward and join the attack.
He is far from the most spectacular Argentine acquisition a Premier League club has ever made but he never once let Spurs down.
Taricco may not make it into too many of these lists but his contributions should not be forgotten.
[snack_break title=”Legend tier – Ricky Villa, Ossie Ardiles”]
The duo that started it all.
Ricardo Villa came into the club and is remembered for scoring perhaps the best ever goal the club has seen, setting them on their way to victory in the FA Cup final replay of 1981 against Manchester City.
A mazy dribble that saw him beat numerous defenders before slotting home, Villa was awarded the Wembley Goal of the Century award in 2001.
He spent a total of five years in north London, while Osvaldo Ardiles spent a decade at the club, helping them win both the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup.
Ardiles, of course, came back in 1993, managing the club to a 15th-placed finish.
It is fair to say that his spell as a player was far more successful and he is remembered as a diminutive, skilled midfielder who helped take the club to great heights alongside his Argentine compatriot.
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