‘Yes to a no’: £21.6m Tottenham man now suggests he was 24 hours away from leaving last summer

By Ben Evans

Tottenham Hotspur forward Bryan Gil has now shared that he was very close to leaving the club last summer.

The Spanish attacker was speaking to El Desmarque, via Sport Witness, as he continues his loan spell at Sevilla.

Bryan Gil hasn’t had the easiest time since arriving at Tottenham 18 months ago for £21.6m.

Very much a signing for the future, Gil has found opportunities hard to come by under Antonio Conte.

He was loaned out to Valencia last season, where he enjoyed a positive spell at the club.

Their fans certainly didn’t want to see him leave, but he instead spent another six months sitting on the Tottenham bench.

Gil was keen to go in the summer, but a move was blocked by Conte before anything was confirmed.

When Spurs suffered a serious injury crisis after the World Cup, Gil was finally given his opportunity.

However, the arrival of Arnaut Danjuma in January meant he was finally able to go out on loan again.

He joined up with his old club Sevilla again, and has been speaking about his future at Spurs.

At one point, it looked like Gil was very close to leave Tottenham last summer.

Antonio Conte put a stop to that tough, and now he’s back in La Liga once again.

Gil nearly left Tottenham last summer

Asked by El Desmarque about his opportunities at Spurs, Gil said: “In the summer I was close to going to Valencia.

“From there, they let me go now (…) It was all very fast, although I told my representative that until I signed, I was not going to believe it, after what happened in summer (with those at Mestalla).

“In summer it was, I don’t know, 24 hours, the radical change, from a yes to a no.”

Gil went on to talk about how his time at Tottenham has been, but was coy about discussing his future.

“It changed my life [moving to Tottenham],” Gil said. “I wanted to try myself in the Premier League and although Conte likes more physical players, I learned a lot from him.”

“I think summer is coming and the season is over, I don’t want it to come [to an end]. Our heads are too busy with the situation to think about summer.”

Sevilla sit just two points above the relegation zone in La Liga right now, but have benefitted from Gil’s arrival.

The 22-year-old has already made nine appearances in all competitions, and found the back of the net against Mallorca days after signing.

A report from La Razon recently suggested Gil could be used as part of a deal to bring one of Sevilla’s start to Tottenham in the summer.

It might be a transfer that makes sense for all parties, with Gil never having the impact many would have liked at Spurs.