Tottenham Hotspur winger Bryan Gil was an option for Barcelona during the January transfer window – but Jordi Cruyff picked Adama Traore.
That’s according to Catalan newspaper SPORT, who claim that Barcelona seemingly had a deal for Gil on the table in January.
However, sporting advisor Jordi Cruyff preferred to sign Adama Traore, landing him on loan from Wolves with a view to buy.
That ruled out the prospect of Gil returning to Spain with Barcelona in a somewhat strange turn of events.
Tottenham were favourites to sign Traore, and if that deal had gone through, Gil may have been freed up to join Barcelona.
Instead, Traore joined Barcelona and Gil was sent on loan to Valencia with Antonio Conte seemingly unconvinced.
Gil is technically gifted but lightweight and not quite robust enough for the Premier League just yet, though a loan to Spain doesn’t really help.
The hope is that Gil will thrive at Valencia and return ready to shine under Conte, even if that seems a little unlucky.
It’s somewhat ironic that Cruyff chose Traore over Gil because the Tottenham man has actually been compared to Jordi’s dad Johan.
With his flowing locks, close control and beautiful dribbling, Gil had been branded ‘little Cruyff’ back in Spain having excelled at Eibar.
That was a bold comparison given that Johan Cruyff is one of the greats of the game, and the chances of Gil reaching that level are slim at best.
Still, it seems that Jordi didn’t quite see shades of his father in Gil, instead signing the complete opposite in Traore.
Joan Laporta allegedly fell in love with Gil, but that didn’t count for much as Barcelona chose not to sign the Tottenham man.
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