His future at Tottenham Hotspur seemed over after a year and a half of counting his chances, but Bryan Gil reappeared after the 2022 World Cup in an unexpected role. The winger made two appearances in a row for the first time since joining the London club and was instrumental in the win against Crystal Palace.
“I’m very happy for him,” said Harry Kane, who capitalized on de Barbate’s outstanding performance to score a brace at Selhurst Park. “He patiently waited for his opportunity, worked very hard in training and showed he was ready.”
Gil, starter against Aston Villa and Palace, where he gave away an assist and opened the game for the first goal, still doesn’t have a guaranteed place in Tottenham’s eleven and his future doesn’t rule out an exit in this winter market like that is arrived at Valencia last winter, the same club he wanted to go to in the summer; operation that has been truncated in the last few hours.
“It’s already water under the bridge,” the 21-year-old assured EFE ahead of the World Cup.
The lack of minutes was constant, but something changed with the World Cup break, when Tottenham played two friendlies and Gil started both, even scoring a goal against Motherwell.
This earned him his Premier League debut, for the first time since arriving in English football, against Aston Villa, in a disastrous match for Antonio Conte’s men, who lost 0-2 at home.
“I’m sure he was a bit disappointed after the last match, but he came out today and showed his qualities,” added Kane, also praised by Conte.
“When we talk about Bryan Gil, we are talking about a boy who was born to play football. He understands football very quickly,” said the Italian. “He’s very intelligent when it comes to understanding situations. This championship is very difficult, because you have to have a lot of quality and be quick in making decisions and he is like that, but you also have to be physically strong and this is an aspect in which he has improved a lot compared to last season.”
This is why Gil has already played more minutes in these last two games (140) than in all of last season in the Premier League (87) and, if he doesn’t come out in this winter transfer market, he aspires to have a leading role for the first time at Tottenham . Without forgetting, of course, that there is still work to be done on his physique.
“He has to get stronger. I compare him to Bernardo Silva at Manchester City, because in my opinion they are very similar. He has to keep working to get stronger because, I repeat, we are talking about a player of great quality,” Conte added.
