Assessing: Bryan Gil

Eight years after Gareth Bale departed Tottenham for Real Madrid, the last of those drafted in to replace him have left the club. The final survivor, Erik Lamela, has been used in a swap deal with Sevilla (plus £25m) for their young prospect, Bryan Gil.

The issue of replacing Bale has taken a paradoxical twist, one of the men originally brought in to replace him, has helped seal the deal for the man most likely to replicate the Welshmen's style of play.

Bryan Gil, a dynamic, left-footed winger showcased his ability whilst on loan at Eibar. He had shown previous flashes of talent in spells for the varying Sevilla youth teams, but the consistency of his performance in the Spanish top-flight last season was enough to convince Tottenham to part with Lamela and a sizable fee for the man donned, 'Little Cruyff'.

The main asset of Bryan Gil is his close control and dynamic dribbling. He was deployed as a left-winger for Eibar last season, with the instruction to progress the ball into dangerous areas in transition. From his heatmap, we can tell how Gil is an old-fashioned winger that hugs the touchline. His pace and willingness to run with the ball made him an effective ball carrier on the left-flank. He made the 9th most carries into the 18 yard-box for La Liga players with over 1,000 minutes.

When such pace is paired with brilliant dribbling skills it makes for a dangerous combination. Gil is certainly someone that holds both of these attributes. He completed the 7th most dribbles for La Liga players with over 1,00 minutes, and managed to dribble past 3.1 players per 90. For context, Lucas Moura dribbled past 1.72 players per 90 in the Premier League last season. To caveat this, tactics and opponents play a role in a player's frequency at which they dribble with the ball, but the sheer volume of dribbles that Gil completed in one of Europe's top leagues is extremely encouraging.

Currently, it looks like Gil's end product doesn't quite match his dribbling ability. His goal and assist tally of 0.28 per 90 was lower than that of Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura. To cement a starting position at Spurs, Gil must improve on these figures next season.

That being said, Gil's expected goal and assist total of 8.8 per 90 nearly betters Bergwijn and Moura's tally combined.

Gil's task last season was to continuously deliver the ball into dangerous areas. He made 4.37 crosses per 90 and 3.89 shot creating actions per 90. Such a high volume of crosses, led Gil to a 68% pass accuracy rate. Whilst it's encouraging that Gil is eager to progress the ball, he will have to be more accurate, more often next season.

Despite the low passing accuracy, Gil was still the bright light in Eibar's attack. Los Armeros finished bottom of La Liga last season, and only scored 29 goals in 38 games.

With better players around him, Gil's work on the wing is likely to be rewarded with a higher goal involvement tally next season.

Last season Eibar completed 363 turnovers, more than any other side in La Liga. Gil was pivotal to this, he made 7.26 pressures in the attacking third per 90. Although this will suit the high-octane style of Premier League football, it doesn't look like something Tottenham or Nuno will draw upon.

Eibar completed 363 turnovers, more than any other side in La Liga last season.

Contrastingly, Spurs recorded just 228 while Nuno's Wolves managed just 205 - both were among the bottom three in that metric.

Another aspect of his defensive game that Gil is weaker on in his aerial ability. The Spaniard won 21% of his aerial duels last season. Whilst this isn't an imperative arsenal in Gil's game, his overall frame and size will need to be bulked to better combat tough-tackling defenders in the Premier League.

With that being said, how will Gil fit into Nuno's system at Tottenham?

Last season at Wolves, Nuno's most prevalent system was the 3-4-3, with the effervescent Pedro Neto taking Gil's position on the left-wing. Interestingly, when compared statistically on their dribbles completed, progressive carries and goal and shot creating actions per 90, Gil and Neto are strikingly similar. Nuno will be hoping he has found an alternative to the Portuguese forward for a more reasonable price.

With Nuno expected to utilise his 3-4-3 again, Gil will be paired alongside his compatriot Sergio Reguilon on the left-flank. However, both players' reliance on their left-foot will make their attacks increasingly difficult. For Gil to truly flourish in London, he may be better suited to taking a role on the right-wing, using his left-foot to cut inside.

Bryan Gil will offer Tottenham far more than Lamela has. His dynamic dribbling and decisive wingplay will add much needed spark to Spurs in the final third. Unsurprisingly, Gil is still a player that needs to evolve both physically and tactically, but there is certainly promise. How Nuno will deploy Gil is another question. The most obvious option is to utilise the Spaniard like he did, Pedro Neto. Although the prospect of Gil cutting in off the right-flank could provide Spurs with an even more dynamic attacking option.