Tottenham Hotspur legend Ossie Ardiles has called on Jose Mourinho to give Giovani Lo Celso more "freedom" in order to get the best out of the midfielder.

Lo Celso has featured in a variety of positions this season, but the most common role he has fulfilled under Mourinho has been as a central midfielder.

Ardiles has been impressed with how the 23-year-old Argentine has performed so far, but believes that he should be utilised in a more attacking role if he is to have the biggest impact on the team.

"The first thing I'd like to say about Giovani is that I'm very proud of him. I started to notice him when he came through to the international team two years ago. In fact, not only me, but a lot of people started to notice him," Ardiles told Tottenham's official website.

"Suddenly, when he came here to Spurs, he had one of the worst things that can happen to you as a footballer when you first arrive in a new club – he got injured. In fact, he was injured against Chile in September, a terrible tackle. So, he arrived at a new club in Tottenham, wanted to play, wanted to do well but he couldn't because of that injury, so it wasn't the most auspicious of starts.

"However, he started to play more regularly and, immediately, he made an impact. He's a very sensible player, he knows what he's doing all the time, he's clever and so on. Little by little, I have to say, he's adapted to the pace of the game here extremely well. Right now, it doesn't look like he has any problems with that at all.

"He can play in a number of positions in midfield, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, he uses his left foot more but he's very comfortable on the right as well. So basically, he can play in any position in midfield.

"In fact, he can play the holding, defensive midfield position as well, he already has done this season. For me, his ideal position is he when he has freedom, he can go forward and attack players. If he has space, he'll attack it immediately and that produces space for other players.

"He's very skilful... look, everyone is skilful, but what makes you different is what is in your head, and even though he's very young, I don't want to say he has an older head, but he has a more experienced head on his shoulders. He's a very, very good player and he can go from strength to strength."

Lo Celso initially joined Spurs on a loan deal from Real Betis last summer, but Tottenham made the move permanent in January.