Tottenham Hotspur’s capture of Sergio Reguilon may not have made the same headlines as the return of Gareth Bale but former Spurs forward Terry Gibson believes that the left-back is capable of making a massive impact in North London.
Reguilon’s arrival gives Jose Mourinho a more attacking option at left-back, a position that Ben Davies has monopolised in recent months.
Gibson, who now works as a pundit for La Liga TV, revealed that Reguilon is also a tenacious and solid defender and it was his defensive capabilities that helped him break into the Real Madrid side.
Speaking to Tottenham’s official website, the pundit said: “Sergio Reguilon came into the Real Madrid team not last season, but the season before (2018/19) when Santiago Solari took over as manager. Marcelo is great going forward but not so great defensively, they wanted to shake things up and he brought this youngster in called Sergio Reguilon.
“He certainly improved them defensively, didn’t go forward as much as Marcelo, but that’s what Real Madrid wanted at that stage. He didn’t want Marcelo bursting up front and not getting back, he wanted a full-back.
“The first impression was that he certainly made them better defensively and he was solid, tenacious, didn’t mind putting his foot in and for a young player stepping into the first team at Real Madrid, he did excellently. But then Zinedine Zidane came back and went back to Marcelo, then they brought in Ferland Mendy from Lyon for big money, so Reguilon was allowed to go out on loan.”
It was Reguilon’s performances on loan with Sevilla last season that shot him into the limelight, with the 23-year-old proving a constant attacking threat down the left-hand side for Julen Lopetegui’s men, who went on to lift the Europa League.
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Gibson revealed that it was during Reguilon’s time at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium that his attacking quality came to light.
He added: “At Sevilla, we saw a different player, an attacking full-back. His instructions at Real Madrid were to be better defensively than Marcelo, which he did, but that meant we didn’t really know about him going forward.
“Sevilla played with two attacking full-backs, Reguilon and Jesus Navas, and both were really important players. He developed into a full-back who was excellent going forward, great quality in the final third and, at the same time, he had the energy to get back, so up and down the pitch for 90 minutes. It was a great loan spell for him, capped by winning the Europa League.
“He’s a competitor, a winner, fiercely determined and this a player brought up at Real Madrid, so he has that background. The year at Sevilla was fantastic, he was a regular, an important player right up there with the best left-backs in La Liga.
“He also made his debut for Spain, and that place is up for grabs. It was no surprise clubs were interested, and it’s great to see him at Spurs.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The arrival of Reguilon certainly gives Jose plenty of options including switching to five at the back. However, I do not see him abandoning the lopsided back four anytime soon as he seems to believe in the idea of building with three at the back and defending with four. However, this could now potentially see us going with a more defensive option like Tanganga at right-back, with Reguilon given the license to go forward from left-back. I can even see us playing with both Doherty and Reguilon in a back four against teams that sit back in a low block.
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