The Spanish magician is one of the few players in Aston Villa’s squad capable of pulling a rabbit out of the hat.
Carles Gil may not have spent too long in the claret and blue colours of Aston Villa but he certainly made a lasting impression. And, according to the Birmingham Mail, he could be handed a second chance at the Midlands club next season.
The 24-year-old spent just 18 months in England after arriving from Valencia though, to observers outside of the confines of Villa Park, his inability to build on an exceptional start remains a mystery.
That debut worldie against Bournemouth in the FA Cup offered a tantalising glimpse of Gil’s quality, as did that acrobatic thunderbolt against Sunderland and that long-range curler against Leicester City.
Yet, for all those moments of magic, there was plenty of filler in between. At times, the impish Spanish playmaker, who models himself on fellow Valencia export David Silva, was simply anonymous, ineffective from a defensive point of view and too lightweight to deal with English football’s physicality.
In fact, after Tim Sherwood axed him from Villa’s relegation battle in the latter stages of 2014/15, he stated that the club had “a lot of icing on the cake players”, as reported by the Birmingham Mail. Essentially, Gil was a luxurious passenger a desperate Villa couldn’t afford to carry.
However, the publication adds that Steve Bruce will consider Gil’s future at the end of the season once he returns from a disappointing loan spell back in La Liga with Deportivo. And with Villa rendered toothless by a galling lack of creativity and invention, Gil could seize his second chance with both hands.
Regardless of a horror recent run that has piled the pressure on Bruce, the spine of the squad is relatively strong with James Chester, Henri Lansbury, Conor Hourihane and Jonathan Kodjia (below) all capable of thriving at Championship level.
However, they are missing a player with a spark, a sprinkling of magic dust. Gil, though he’s far from consistent, could be the man to turn their many draws into wins with a swish of his left-foot wand.
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