Arsenal and Barcelona made attempts to sign former Tottenham Hotspur forward Bryan Gil.
That’s according to Monday’s edition of AS, who cover why Arsenal and Barcelona failed to sign him in the past.
Tottenham signed Gil from Sevilla in July 2021 and let Erik Lamela move in the opposite direction as part of the deal.
Sevilla let the Spaniard spend the 2020/21 season on loan at SD Eibar. He managed four goals and four assists from 29 matches, and that would have partly convinced Tottenham to bet on the 25-year-old.
Spurs weren’t the only clubs who wanted to sign him, and the newspaper covers Arsenal and Barcelona.
Arsenal and Barcelona called Gil
Last summer, the attacker left Tottenham and completed a permanent move to Girona, who face Barcelona in the league today. Ahead of this clash, the newspaper looks at Mikel Arteta’s side and the La Liga winners’ previous interest in Gil.
At Eibar, he played under José Luis Mendilibar, and Gil’s performances had attracted the Gunners and the Catalan club’s interest.
AS state ‘Arsenal came calling’, without specifying exactly when the Emirates club made an approach. Barcelona looked at the Spurs flop during the winter 2022 market, months after he moved to Tottenham.
According to the report, Barcelona’s negotiations to bring the player to the Camp Nou didn’t get far. There is no mention of why the Blaugrana and Arsenal weren’t able to secure his services.
Barca’s failure to sign Gil saw them shift their focus to Adama Traoré, and the latter arrived on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Gil’s struggles at Tottenham
The Spaniard clearly struggled during his time at Tottenham, who sent him on loan to Valencia and Sevilla in January 2022 and 2023 respectively. Last season, Spurs let him join Girona on loan, and his stay was made permanent in August 2025.
At Tottenham, Gil played 1,301 minutes from 43 matches in all competitions, failing to score and contributing three assists. He was honest about being unhappy at the north London club and therefore, made the “important” to leave them permanently.
Arsenal won’t be having many sleepless nights over this one.