
News
La Liga expert ‘baffled’ by Johnny Cardoso’s Real Betis role amid Tottenham Hotspur agreement
Tottenham Hotspur didn’t sign a defensive midfielder this summer but may already have an arrival teed up for 2025 in that position.
Few around Tottenham Hotspur were upset to see Giovani Lo Celso leave on transfer deadline day.
The Argentinian quite simply failed to live up to expectations following a huge 2019 move from Real Betis.
this summer but no deal with Aston Villa materialised.
In the end, Tottenham allowed Lo Celso to re-join Real Betis for just €5million (£4.2million), a far cry from the fee Spurs paid for him five years ago.
Lo Celso wasn’t in the plans but that fee was incredibly low – and the reason for that has now emerged.

La Liga pundit on Johnny Cardoso
Rather than demand a higher fee – one which Betis may not have been able to pay – Tottenham got a little creative.
Tottenham have an agreement for Betis midfielder Johnny Cardoso, which means they can activate an option to sign him in 2025.
Spurs refused to confirm such a deal existed but Betis president Angel Haro has now confirmed the agreement.
If Tottenham don’t activate the option to sign Cardoso, they can take a percentage of any fee if Betis do sell him.
This is an interesting move as Cardoso has impressed for Betis since arriving from Internacional in January.
The USA international didn’t shine against Real Madrid but has been praised by La Liga expert Terry Gibson.
Gibson, a boyhood Tottenham fan, has told that he can’t understand why Cardoso is on the bench for Betis right now.
Gibson praised Cardoso for his impact last season and believes he should be starting in the Betis midfield to start the season.
“Their all-round play was good, defensively they were solid, midfield I’m slightly baffled why Johnny Cardoso is not playing after playing so well last season,” said Gibson.
“Marc Roca and [William] Carvalho are playing ahead of him every game now and yet, when he comes on, he still does a good job, so I’m baffled at that one,” he added.
Mauricio Pochettino set to coach potential Tottenham signing Cardoso
Cardoso was born in the United States before moving to Brazil with his family at a young age.
Whilst Cardoso was developed in the Internacional system, he chose to play for the US rather than Brazil.
Cardoso already has 15 caps for the United States but is now set to be coached by a former Tottenham hero – Mauricio Pochettino.
Fabrizio Romano claims that Pochettino is set to sign a contract to become the new United States boss.
Pochettino surprisingly left Chelsea at the end of last season and is now set to turn his hand to international management.
That means Pochettino is set to inherit Cardoso as one of his key players for the future – just as Tottenham take a big stake in his future.