Tottenham boss Conte shares why he blocked Bryan Gil's loan move on transfer deadline day

By Shamanth Jayaram

Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has explained why Bryan Gil‘s loan move to La Liga side Valencia was blocked on transfer deadline day.

The young Spaniard joined Spurs last year in a £21 million deal that saw Erik Lamela move to Sevilla (Daily Mail). He was always viewed as one for the future, but after very limited opportunities in the first half of the season, he was loaned out to Valencia at the turn of the year.

The Spanish outfit, now managed by AC Milan legend Gennaro Gattuso, were really keen on bringing him back on loan this summer. The Valencia boss even revealed that the deal was “99 per cent done” last week, but Spurs pulled the plug in the end.

Valencia were reportedly furious with Tottenham’s decision, and Gil wasn’t too happy either.

• Bryan Gil shares cryptic Instagram post after Tottenham block his exit

Conte shares why he blocked Bryan Gil’s loan move on transfer deadline day

In his press conference ahead of Tottenham’s game against Fulham, Conte was asked about players like Gil, who were expected to leave the club on loan again.

The Spurs boss revealed he made it clear to the board that if any player left on loan, he wanted a replacement signed. Tottenham couldn’t find a new winger to take Gil’s position in the end, and that’s the reason why the Spaniard’s loan move to Valencia was blocked.

Conte said yesterday, as quoted by Football London: “We are talking about players that are really good prospects, but I was very clear with the club if someone go on loan, another player has to come in. Otherwise for me it’s difficult to have also the training sessions.

“We are talking about really good prospects, young players. They have to work like (Djed) Spence to develop and then to be ready to be Tottenham players for the future.”

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Conte wasn’t wrong to demand a replacement for Gil before sending him out on loan, but the fact that the whole deal with Valencia collapsed on the final day is just really sad for the youngster.

Gill will now have to stay at Tottenham at least until the January transfer window. He will train under the watchful eyes of Conte, but it’s unlikely that he’ll even play a minute of football in the Premier League this year.

Spurs have Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison as natural wide players, while both Ivan Perisic and Ryan Perisic can swap their wing-back role for a place higher up the pitch.

That makes it really difficult for Gil to get any minutes, but there’s nothing he can do now.