Former Tottenham Hotspur forward Terry Gibson is critical of the Premier League giants’ ‘ridiculous’ handling of Bryan Gil, explaining on the El Tel and Jon’s La Liga Weekly podcast that the silky Spaniard was never a natural fit for Antonio Conte.
It hasn’t taken the former Spain U21 international long to make his mark back home in Andalusia.
Returning to Seville for a second spell during the January transfer window, Gil scored a decisive goal during his first start under Jorge Sampaoli, a 2-0 triumph over Real Mallorca lifting an underachieving outfit that little bit further away from the dreaded relegation zone.
Furthermore, Gil has already played nearly as many La Liga minutes (134) for Sevilla already as he did during the entire first half of the season in North London (148).
And Gibson is pleased to see a highly-talented attacker once likened to Neymar and labelled ‘Spain’s best footballer’ get his stuttering career back on track in familiar surroundings.
Bryan Gil is back in La Liga after disappointing Tottenham Hotspur spell
“(Gil scored for Sevilla) ironically on the day his old team were getting spanked 4-1 by Leicester!,” Gibson points out, referencing Gil’s ‘Beatle of Barbate’ nickname.
“Ironically, he was just starting to show a run of form, get some chances, and the Spurs supporters were saying; ‘He’s not too bad!’. Let’s ignore the fact he’s small and looks like all the Beatles rolled into one!
“That was the talking point; he’s too small, he’s too frail. I promise you, he’s not. (Gil) played for Eibar (on loan in 2020/21), who are physical, aggressive, hard-working. He was their stand-out player by a country mile. He can cope with playing physically.”
Tottenham paid £25 million to sign Gil during the summer of 2021 during the short-lived era of Nuno Espirito Santo, with the long-serving Erik Lamela moving to Spain as part of the deal. Over the last 18 months or so, Gil has started a grand total of two Premier League games.
‘So ridiculous’
“It’s so ridiculous. Spurs paid £25 million, gave them Erik Lamela, and now they’ve given them Bryan Gil back,” Gibson adds. “It’s ridiculous.
“It’s now looking likely that Sevilla want to keep him. It probably is the right place for him. He’s not really Conte’s type. Where is he going to play? As a winger? As a wing-back? Spurs don’t have wingers. Where are you going to fit him in?
“Now he’s back at Sevilla, where he should have been in the first place.”
Gil, strangely enough, was just starting to showcase his talents before that mid-season departure, producing his best performance on English soil during the 4-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace as recently as January 4th.
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