There have been mixed fortunes for Tottenham Hotspur's 11 loan players in their experiences across Europe this week with one saying goodbye.
Spurs have a big group of players currently plying their trade away from the club at sides in England, Scotland, France, Spain and Sweden, all looking to make Tottenham's head coach Antonio Conte take notice. Some of the young players have been sent out to get experience of the senior game, some to get more minutes under their belts and others to thrust them into the shop window ahead of needed summer moves.
Here's how the group of Spurs loanees got on over the past week.
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Bryan Gil (Valencia)
Gil suffered heartbreak in the Copa del Rey final against Real Betis on Saturday night.
The 21-year-old came on with five minutes of normal time remaining with the score at 1-1 and he played through extra-time before Valencia lost out 6-5 in the penalty shoot-out.
Gil posted a photo of himself seemingly in tears on the pitch after the game on Instagram with the message: "It may be one of the hardest days of my short career. It's frustrating to work for a goal and not achieve it, but I couldn't be more proud to belong to this group and defend this badge.
"Thanks to all those people who lived it with us in La Cartuja and to those who lived it from home. Once again this hobby never ceases to amaze me! We will come back stronger."
The Spanish club now turn their attentions to La Liga and improving their current 10th place spot. Gil has quickly become a big part of their team with 13 appearances for the Spanish side, registering one assist since his switch from Tottenham and the Valencia fans have chanted for him to stay longer.
Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon)
Ndombele missed a third Ligue 1 match in a row due to injury as Lyon won 5-2 at home against Montpellier on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Frenchman had been struggling with the injury ahead of Lyon's Europa League quarter-final second leg defeat against West Ham in which he could only manage 45 minutes.
The midfielder has played 11 times for Lyon since joining on loan on January transfer deadline day with one goal and two assists to his name.
Giovani Lo Celso (Villarreal)
Lo Celso and Villarreal had the weekend off ahead of the Champions League semi-final first leg at Liverpool this Wednesday.
Last week, the Argentine did play 71 minutes in a support striker role on Tuesday night in a 2-0 home win against Valencia, with Bryan Gil unused on the bench.
Lo Celso has been playing in a variety of roles under Unai Emery with the No.10 role behind the striker a popular one that he did not undertake at Tottenham.
Villarreal have already stunned Juventus and Bayern Munich in the Champions League and will be hoping to repeat the trick against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side.
Lo Celso has now made 15 appearances for Emery's team since his deadline day switch from Tottenham.
Pape Matar Sarr (Metz)
Sarr played twice this week as Metz look to be heading towards relegation from Ligue 1.
The 19-year-old got 28 minutes from the bench in Wednesday night's 1-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Lorient and then he started and played 68 minutes in central midfield as Metz went down 1-0 again at home against Brest.
Sarr had the highest pass accuracy with 94.4% of any starting player on either side, playing one key pass, but it was not enough to save his side.
With four games left to play this season, Metz are bottom of Ligue 1 and are now seven points behind 18th-placed St Etienne in the relegation play-off spot and nine points behind Clermont, who are currently safe in 17th.
Sarr has played 30 times for the French strugglers this season before he aims to show Tottenham what he's about when he arrives in N17 this summer.
Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic)
Carter-Vickers recorded another clean sheet for Celtic as they won 2-0 at Ross County to regain their six-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
The 24-year-old played the full 90 minutes yet again and earned himself an eight in the Scottish Daily Express player ratings with the review: "Defended resolutely in the first half and provided a big block after half time. A solid showing again."
Carter-Vickers' loan spell has been a big success and Celtic are expected to take up the option to buy him, which football.london understands is around £6million up front with potential add-ons that could make it £10million in all eventually. The centre-back has also been interesting a number of Premier League clubs.
The 24-year-old has four goals and one assist from his 40 games in all competitions for Celtic so far in this major campaign in his career.
Troy Parrott (MK Dons)
Troy Parrott added an assist to his recent trail of goal involvements as he played 90 minutes up front as MK Dons won 2-0 at home against Morecambe in League One on Saturday to keep their automatic promotion hopes alive.
The 20-year-old Irishman earned a 6.5 in the MK Citizen's player ratings with the write-up: "Led the line again but didn't get much of a sniff of goal. Worked hard as ever."
Parrott had also played 85 minutes on Tuesday night as MK lost 1-0 at Oxford United, having his side's best chance with an effort that was cleared off the line.
Parrott has played 44 times this season and scored nine goals and provided seven assists in a good loan spell in Milton Keynes.
Kion Etete (Cheltenham Town)
Etete also got two matches under his belt this week but they were both defeats for Cheltenham Town. First he played 90 minutes on Easter Monday as Town lost 3-0 at Lincoln and then on Saturday he played 82 minutes as the team lost 2-1 at home to Bolton.
Cheltenham boss Michael Duff spoke about Etete's loan and what the future holds for him after the match when talking about his loan players as a group.
"I think they'll all have good careers. At what level? It's not easy. It's easy to be at a Premier League club, but staying at a Premier League club is the difficult bit," he is quoted as saying by Gloucestershire Live. "They have all come in and I don't know whether it's luck or not, but we have signed good characters. There is no edge to them. They are coming from completely different backgrounds. They are coming from Disneyland.
"Kion has come from Tottenham's training ground and it's like NASA Space Centre. The pitches are perfect, you have a member of staff to pour their tea, one to pour their milk and another to put in the sugar. There are staff everywhere so when they come into this environment it's a bit alien to them, but they have all bought in, which is key.
"They have done and that tells you about the culture within the training ground because the worst thing you can have is asking a player to do something and they say 'we don't do that at my club' - well, you're not at that club. They are here to learn different experiences, styles of football and formations. They have all been brilliant."
Etete has played 13 times for League One side Cheltenham, scoring three goals and laying on three assists, following the first half of the season when he was on loan in League Two at Northampton, netting six goals and providing two assists in his 23 games.
Jack Clarke (Sunderland)
Clarke was an unused substitute as Sunderland won 5-1 at home against Cambridge United on Saturday.
The 21-year-old has played 15 matches for the sixth-placed League One side, scoring once and providing two assists, as they look to find a route back to the Championship.
Nile John (Charlton Athletic)
John's loan move to Charlton continues to come without a minute of first team football and he was out of the matchday squad again on Friday for the 2-0 home win against Shrewsbury.
The 19-year-old has been an unused substitute on five occasions for Charlton and left out of the squad altogether in 11 other League One matches. Addicks boss Johnnie Jackson last month explained John and Chelsea loanee Juan Castillo's lack of game time.
"I’ve got players in those positions who, at the moment, they’re in front of them," said the former Spurs man, as reported by South London Press. "I’m judging every day on what I see in training. There’s been opportunities. Nile has been unlucky because he’s not had a lot of opportunities.
"Juan has had a couple of opportunities that he didn’t really take. Nile can count himself unlucky that he’s not had opportunities. I have been looking to try to get him on the pitch at certain times but the nature of the games and state of play, having to make early substitutions in certain games has stopped me being able to do that."
Alfie Whiteman (Degerfors)
The 23-year-old goalkeeper was in goal again on Thursday night as Degerfors made it four consecutive defeats to start the Swedish Allsvenskan season as they lost 1-0 at home to Hammarby. He was then in goal again on Monday night as Degerfors went down 2-0 at Varnamo.
Whiteman did his part in keeping Degerfors in the Swedish top flight last season and will be hoping to impress again during this campaign. Spurs do also have the option to recall him as part of the loan agreement if they were to need him back.
Kacper Kurylowicz (Potters Bar Town)
The goalkeeper's loan at non-league side Potters Bar Town, who play in the Isthmian Premier League, has now ended along with their season. Kurylowicz was between the sticks for their 2-0 defeat at Leatherhead to bring their campaign to a close.
After the game he tweeted: "I would like to thank everyone at Potters Bar Town for the great reception I received whilst playing the last few months. It has been an absolute honour playing for the shirt. On a personal note it was a great experience on my first loan. I wish you all the best in the coming season."
