Spurs loanee Bryan Gil struggled for Valencia in a Copa del Rey semi-final first-leg clash against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.
Gil joined Tottenham in the summer from Sevilla for £21.6m with Erik Lamela also heading the other way as part of the deal.
He’s a player with bags of potential. However, he failed to make an impact in North London during the first half of the season, registering just one assist across all competitions and only making nine substitute appearances in the Premier League.
He was shipped out on loan to Valencia on deadline day and it’s since been reported that Spurs would be willing to listen to offers for him [TEAMtalk].
The 21-year-old started well at Mestalla, catching the eye on his debut against Cadiz and even earning a comparison with club legend Aimar after pulling off a slick nutmeg.
His third outing for the club against Athletic Bilbao at San Mames on Thursday night was less impressive, though, and his stats don’t make for great reading.
Gil’s pass accuracy percentage from the match was just 65, while he lost possession a concerning 19 times [SofaScore].
He only completed half of his six attempted dribbles and just one of his seven crosses picked out a Valencia player.
He struggled out of possession too, committing four fouls, losing both of his aerial duels and only winning four of his 13 ground duels.
These numbers are evidence that although Gil came to Spurs with a growing reputation and a few senior Spain caps, he’s far from the finished article.
Rustiness is only natural after playing a bit-part role over the first half of the season, but he’ll surely need to improve his performance levels at Valencia if he’s to have any chance of persuading Antonio Conte to give him another shot.
Valencia drew the match 1-1 – a decent result given that they were reduced to ten men just prior to the interval – and the second leg is scheduled to take place at Mestalla in early March.
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