Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici now have just over two weeks to finalise Tottenham's transfer business before the summer window slams shut until 2023. Very active in the transfer market so far, Spurs fans will have their fingers crossed that one or two more players come in through the door and those not in the head coach's plans depart.
Having seen Giovani Lo Celso re-join Villarreal on loan on Sunday evening, the Lilywhites now need to part with Sergio Reguilon, Harry Winks and Tanguy Ndombele before it's too late. Other exits could possibly be on the cards over the next 17 days, with decisions still needing to be made over Pape Matar Sarr and Bryan Gil.
The former missed out on selection for the first two Premier League games of the new season but the latter was included on the bench against Southampton and Chelsea. Game time hasn't been there for Gil just yet but his selection does indicate that Conte clearly sees something in him.
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After all, new signing Djed Spence was one of the unlucky ones to miss out at Stamford Bridge on Sunday as the boss opted for a further attacking option rather than overloading his bench with right wing-backs. Ideally wanting two players for each position, Conte's comments in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Chelsea game did seem to indicate that Gil is his sixth attacking option at present.
"In our squad, I am very happy because I repeat compared to last season we improve our squad with Richi up front, but don't forget we lost Bergwijn. Then Gil last season went on loan and now he is in the squad in this 20 players," he told football.london when asked if he needed a third extra attacking player ahead of deadline day.
"I think as a midfield, we improved with Bissouma and with Winks also and then with Lenglet behind. I think we sign players with common sense to find players with the right characteristics to help us to improve the quality and to have players reliable and ready to have a good impact, not an impact so and so if I have to call them to play."
Quite whether he stays in the group of 20 outfield players after the transfer window closes for business remains to be seen amid talk of a loan return to Valencia. However, Conte did appear to imply that the player is, for now at the very least, in his squad plans.
Tottenham's attackers on the bench have been introduced in the second half in the past two games but a sixth attacking option would perhaps not be given the necessary pitch time they want. The two extra substitutions that have come into play this campaign do help, although it may not always be the case that all five are used in the Premier League and Champions League.
Gil needs regular playing time to help his development and that leaves Conte and Paratici with a huge call to make over the Spaniard. Either he heads out on loan once again or he remains at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and provides cover in attack for the Lilywhites.
Looking rather bleak for him back in January as he was allowed to depart, if he is to stay at the club beyond deadline day then it would be testament to his hard work over to summer to force his way into Conte's 2022/23 plans. It's a crucial fortnight coming up for the player and it could be rather telling in terms of where his Tottenham career is heading.
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