When Giovani Lo Celso missed a glorious opportunity to equalise late on against Liverpool in January, it felt typical of his first season at Tottenham Hotspur. There had been flashes of brilliance but broadly it had been a tale of frustration.



Having picked up a hip injury only a month after joining from Real Betis in the summer, Lo Celso had just broken into the first team in November when Mauricio Pochettino was sacked. Jose Mourinho’s appointment then saw him back on the periphery for the next couple of months.



But that Liverpool game changed everything, building on impressive cameos in the previous few weeks against Brighton & Hove Albion and Middlesbrough. Yes, he missed an excellent chance, but his introduction for the final 21 minutes had completely transformed Spurs. Where they had laboured previously, suddenly they were alive, with Lo Celso’s instantly sliding in to dispossess Georginio Wijnaldum and help set Son Heung-min up for an excellent...