White Hart Lane by Hzh, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Tottenham Hotspur have already parted company with three first-team players in Paulo Gazzaniga, Danny Rose and Juan Foyth, but they’re finally closing in on their first signing – Bryan Gil.
Fabrizio Romano of Sky Sports and the Guardian says Spurs have all but agreed a deal with Sevilla that will see Gil come to North London and Erik Lamela moving in the opposite direction.
Tottenham are also paying Sevilla €25m (£21.6m) for the 20-year-old. Gil looks to have a bright future after impressing on loan at SD Eibar last season, but supporters may be sad that his arrival comes at Lamela’s expense.
The 29-year-old has spent eight years at Spurs, making 257 appearances in all competitions, scoring 37 goals with 47 assists. He’s been a terrific servant but has struggled with fitness and a lack of playing time of late.
Lamela spent time out with a calf injury last season and amassed only 703 minutes of Premier League football, so the writing has been on the wall. Gil looks an improvement on the Argentine, so it’s good business from Tottenham.
Gil joined Sevilla from Barbate in 2012 and has gone on to make 21 appearances across the board, scoring two goals with two assists. He’s made more of an impressing on loan, however, having a hand in eight goals from 29 games at Eibar, so it’s easy to see why Tottenham are keen.
The Spanish U21 international created 49 chances, was fouled 47 times, had 67 successful dribbles and whipped in 193 crosses in 28 La Liga games, so he looks the real deal.
Confirmation of this swap move should come sooner rather than later, as Romano says the paperwork is ready to be signed. Tottenham will have Heung-min Son, Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura for competition, so Gil will need to hit the ground running.
