Journalist says Gil nearly left for £5m before Tottenham made move

Duncan Castles has told The Transfer Window Podcast that Sevilla were ready to sell Bryan Gil to a Serie A club for just £5 million before Tottenham Hotspur got involved and eventually paid £21 million with Erik Lamela moving in the opposite direction.

Gil has returned to La Liga after a difficult start to life in North London. He did not make one start in the Premier League. And he has only been able to show glimpses of his potential, with a few minutes here and there.

The 20-year-old actually hit back at reports that he wanted to leave Tottenham at all costs. But he did still leave the club on loan in January. He will spend the rest of the season with Valencia.

‘Tottenham then made an offer’

For some, the move to the Mestalla may not make a lot of sense. He has already proved himself in La Liga, doing enough to convince Spurs to sign him in the summer.

But Tottenham still see Gil having a long-term future with them, so they clearly still believe that he could prove to be an inspired signing. Interestingly however, it would appear that Sevilla may be over the moon with the deal they did in the summer.

Castles has remarkably claimed that Gil was on the way out of Sevilla for just £5 million and headed for Italy – until Monchi received a call from Fabio Paratici.

“I’m told that Gil was about to be sold by Sevilla to a Serie A club for around €6 million,” he told The Transfer Window Podcast. “Then Paratici contacted their sports director, Monchi, asking them how much they would want for Gil.

“And Monchi, who is a very accomplished, experienced transfer market operator’s reply was not for less than €20 million will we sell him. Tottenham then made an offer which Monchi bargained up to €25 million plus Erik Lamela. Half a season later they’re loaning him back to Spain.”

Tottenham fans will be baffled if Sevilla were indeed close to selling Gil for just £5 million

Right now, it does appear that Tottenham have overpaid for Gil. Lamela had had a mixed time with Spurs. But his work-rate could rarely be questioned. And he has scored four league goals since moving to Sevilla.

So paying a £21 million fee and Lamela looks a huge gamble. If it is indeed true that Sevilla were close to selling Gil for just £5 million, Paratici has a lot to answer for.

In fairness, Gil was a Spain international by the time Tottenham came calling. And clearly, he has a lot of potential. So it would have been bizarre had Sevilla been about to sell for just £5 million.

But even if that figure is wide of the mark by some way, it looks safe to say that Tottenham have still paid so much more than Sevilla were initially looking for.