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Rob Guest

The FA decision that could hand forgotten Tottenham man a surprise chance vs Southampton

All at Tottenham will be hoping that things start to ramp up in terms of outgoings in the coming weeks as they get their squad in place for the new season. The Lilywhites have been extremely busy in the transfer market following the addition of six new players, yet only three have departed on a permanent basis since the summer window opened for business.

Sergio Reguilon, Harry Winks, Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele are four who are not part of Antonio Conte's plans and need to be moved on sooner rather than later for the sake of their careers. It's not just the quartet who could depart, however, as a decision needs to be made at right wing-back following Djed Spence's move to N17, with Japhet Tanganga, Joe Rodon, Pape Matar Sarr and Bryan Gil's futures also up in the air.

In the case of Gil, Conte and Fabio Paratici must determine whether he is ready to play Premier League football on a consistent basis or if he requires another loan move elsewhere to help his development. Very good in his loan spell with Valencia in the second half of last campaign, Spurs won't be short of suitors for the 21-year-old as he is extremely highly regarded in his homeland.

READ MORE: Antonio Conte finally has what Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have at Liverpool and Man City

French side Marseille are one of the sides to have been linked with a move for the player this summer, as have Serie A outfit Sampdoria. The transfer window is open for business for another month and Gil's future should become a lot clearer in the coming weeks and months.

The winger has been given his chance in pre-season by Conte over the past few weeks, featuring in all three games against Team K League, former club Sevilla and Rangers. Looking bright in the first game of their South Korea tour as he played the opening 45 minutes in their 6-3 win over Team K League, the talented player has had to settle for 20 minutes off the bench in the last two matches.

Barring the first game in Korea, Gil really hasn't had a lot of time to make his case to Conte and he will be hoping more minutes come his way on Saturday evening when they take on Roma. One week later and Spurs will be in Premier League action for the first time in 2022/23 when Southampton make the trip to the capital.

Providing of course that he is still a Tottenham player a week on Saturday and a potential loan exit hasn't quickly come to fruition, the Spaniard could very well find himself in the matchday squad. Tottenham may have strengthened in attack at the start of the month with the £60million addition of Richarlison from Everton but the Brazilian is not available to face Saints.

The new man has to serve a one-match ban after throwing a flare into the crowd following his goal for the Toffees in their win over Chelsea in May, thus meaning he now has to wait an extra eight days to make his official Tottenham debut. His suspension means the Lilywhites will be one short in attacking options for the Southampton match and that could present a huge opportunity to Gil.

Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane look set to lead the attack again after forming a devastating partnership last season, leaving Lucas Moura as the only other recognised attacking option on the bench. Having plenty of options to choose from in defence and midfield, Spurs simply cannot go into the opening weekend with Lucas as their sole attacker on the bench as they could very easily need to change things about.

Gil would give Spurs another outlet out wide as he can play on both flanks, also operating centrally during the first few months of Nuno Espirito Santo's tenure. Conte did use the ex-Sevilla man off the bench on a handful of occasions last campaign and the very same could happen against Southampton.

Premier League rules now permit teams to make five substitutions per match, something Tottenham can really take advantage of following their club's transfer business. While it remains to be seen what will happen with the 2021 summer arrival come the end of the transfer window, Richarlison's ban could pave the way for Gil to take his place in a Tottenham squad in the Premier League for the first time since coming on away at Chelsea towards the end of January.

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