Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Giovani Lo Celso insists he doesn't want to be compared to Christian Eriksen, who left the club last month to join Italian side Inter.
The Argentine international's loan move from Real Betis was made permanent during the January transfer window, while José Mourinho added two new faces to his squad in Steven Bergwijn from PSV Eindhoven and Benfica's Gedson Fernandes.
The transfer saga that was hanging over the club throughout the window was Eriksen's proposed move to Inter, with Tottenham eventually giving that deal the all-clear for £18m - avoiding losing the Dane on a free at the end of the season.
Tottenham will look towards Lo Celso to help plug the gap following Eriksen's move away, and despite impressing when he's stepped into the first team this season, the Argentina international doesn't want to be compared to the club's former playmaker.
"Christian is a great player and I have seen that through the months I have spent with him here," Lo Celso told The Guardian. "But at the end of the day, the club and Eriksen both came to a decision that it was right for a change. So I try not to compare myself to him."
As far as Lo Celso's adaptation to English football goes, the 23-year-old feels like he's finally starting to turn a corner. He missed five Premier League games early on in the season due to a hip injury, while he's only just started back-to-back matches for the first time since moving to the Premier League.
It wasn't an easy start. But Lo Celso says he is starting to enjoy his time on the pitch with Tottenham, even though his position is still somewhat up for debate.
"Right now I’m really enjoying the moment of being at such a big club like Spurs," he added. "In the beginning, it wasn’t so easy for me. I was coming to a new league, a new language, a new culture, and then I got injured shortly after arriving. But right now I couldn’t feel better.
"Over my career I have played in a variety of positions because my managers have asked me. Now I’m at Tottenham and since being here I have already played wide, I’ve played centrally as well.
"The important thing for me is always to do the best I can for the team and to respond to the requests."
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Source :
90min
