Loan Watch: How Tottenham’s January loanees fared in their time out for new clubs

Tottenham Hotspur stars Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, and Bryan Gil were in action for the first time since leaving the club in January

As per football.london, Tottenham Hotspur loanees Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, and Bryan Gil were all in action for their respective new clubs this weekend. The players took to the field for the first time since they left North London at the end of the January transfer window.  

The three Spurs stars were deemed surplus to requirements by manager Antonio Conte, as the trio struggled to impress the Italian and gain regular minutes under him. In a bid to play more first-team football, the Tottenham stars departed the club on a temporary basis till the end of the season.

Spurs managed to find loan deals for all three players, with Ndombele heading to former club Olympique Lyonnais, while Gil and Lo Celso made a return to La Liga, joining Valencia and Villareal respectively.

Spurs also saw a permanent exit last month in the form of Dele Alli, who departed the club after seven long years, heading on a free transfer to Premier League side Everton to play under new manager Frank Lampard.

Loan watch

Ndombele managed to make his second debut for Lyon this weekend, making an appearance from the bench for the Ligue 1 club. Despite being sent on to help his team recover from a 2-0 deficit, the Frenchman could not help his side turn the result around.

However, he did manage to see plenty of the ball and strung together a few passes as he appeared to have an immediate impact on proceedings after he was subbed on. The France international ended the game with a 91% pass success rate.

Lo Celso too made his debut for Villarreal from the bench, as the Argentine came on for a late cameo in the second half. Incidentally, the Spurs man played his first match for his new club against his former side Real Betis and received warm applause from the Betis fans as he was introduced to the game.

Despite coming on so late, he played an important part in the Yellow Submarines’ second goal, as his new club ran out 2-0 winners away at the Benito Villamarín Stadium.

Gil meanwhile, managed to make 90-minute appearances in two games for new side Valencia. The youngster played the entirety of the Copa del Rey tie against Cadiz, where he impressed in attack and made a promising debut for Los Che.

The starlet’s second game for the club, however, did not make many headlines as Valencia were forced to a 0-0 draw against Real Sociedad. All in all, it is heartening to see the 20-year-old secure regular minutes at the top level.

All three Spurs loanees managed to begin well for their new clubs, as they look to gain regular minutes and try to impress Conte from afar, hoping to work their way into the Tottenham team next season.

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The trio is expected to return to N17 in the summer, but only time will tell if Conte continues to include them in the first team. For now, we can only hope that these talented stars continue to perform to their best and come back to Spurs as better players.