Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that there was quite a bit of interest in Bryan Gil during the January window but insisted that the winger could still have an important role to play at Tottenham over the coming months.
Given the start that Timo Werner has made to his Tottenham career, and with Manor Solomon soon expected to return from injury, it appears like Gil’s chances of game time at Spurs will be limited unless the Lilywhites have another injury crisis.
That is perhaps why it might have come as a surprise to many Spurs fans when the winger ended up staying on transfer deadline day despite reports suggesting in the final few days of the window that Brighton were locked in talks with Tottenham over a loan deal for the 22-year-old (Daily Mail).
On Thursday, Fooball.London’s Alasdair Gold hinted that it might have been Gil’s decision to remain at the club. The journalist explained that despite attracting a lot of interest, the Spaniard was not particularly keen on leaving Hotspur Way as he is enjoying his football under Postecoglou.
Postecoglou explains the Bryan Gil situation
The Tottenham head coach has now seemingly confirmed that it was the case, stating that he was not going to push Gil out of the club.
Postecoglou insisted that the former Sevilla star’s injury issues have affected his progress, admitting that he loves having the youngster at the club.
When asked about Gil staying put, the Australian told Football.London: “It’s not an issue with me. Yeah, there was a bit of interest in Bryan, a bit of interest in a lot of our players, but I’ve said this before it is not my role to push people out in that kind of situation.
“I still very much regard them as our players and Bryan is a fantastic young player. He works so hard to improve every day and this first half of the year he’s had a couple of injuries.
“People shouldn’t underestimate that, especially in a set-up like ours where most of the guys who had a strong pre-season are the ones that hit the ground running.
“He missed out on that but he wants to improve, loves the environment and we love having him part of the group. He’s still a young player with plenty of time to develop and happy to have him around for this second half of the year.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I suspect one of the main reasons Gil now feels at home at Tottenham is due to the sizable Spanish-speaking contingent at the club. However, I do not expect him to get any game time unless there are several injuries, particularly given that we are now out of the FA Cup.