Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli has been chasing Tottenham Hotspur’s Bryan Gil ‘for three years’ amid reports suggesting the Premier League winger could return to Spanish football, Gil’s father tells Estadio Deportivo.
Just as the door appeared to be creaking open for Spurs’ £21 million benchwarmer, it might just have slammed shut once again. Gil marked only his second Premier League start under Antonio Conte with an assist during a 4-0 thrashing of London rivals Crystal Palace in early January.
But, with the most ill-timed of injuries then keeping Gil out of the squad against both Manchester City and Fulham, the former Eibar loanee will be facing more competition than ever before when he returns to action.
Tottenham completed the shock signing of Arnaut Danjuma this week. The Dutch international arrives on loan from Villarreal, but has a £27 million option-to-buy clause in his Spurs contract (The Times).
Suddenly, Gil appears to have drifted from fourth to fifth-choice in Conte’s pecking order; behind Danjuma, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and an out-of-sorts Heung-Min Son.
Bryan Gil could leave Tottenham for a loan spell at Sevilla
According to Sky Sports, Danjuma’s arrival could see Tottenham loan Gil out for the remainder of 2022/23, with Sevilla’s madcap coach hoping to lure the so-called ‘Beatle of Barbate’ back to the club where he started his career.
“Seville is his home,” says Alfonso Gil, the 21-year-old’s father. “Sampaoli has been (chasing) him for three years now.”
According to Roma Giallorossa, Tottenham offered Gil to Jose Mourinho’s Roma recently, as part of a player plus cash deal that would have seen Nicolo Zaniolo move in the other direction.
The Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan remains the most likely destination, however; Sevilla crying out for a dash of youthful exuberance as an ageing squad stumble along just outside the La Liga relegation zone.
“In 2017, Bryan Gil was with us (training with the first-team). Bryan arrived and he was very young. He ended up being an outstanding player. I loved him,” says Sampaoli, now in his second spell in charge of the Andalusians.
“I wanted to take him to Olympique de Marseille.”
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