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‘Wasted’ Tottenham attacker becomes Barcelona target, with Spurs ‘open to deal’

An attacker who has been ‘wasted’ at Tottenham could leave for Barcelona in the January transfer window, according to reports.

The north London side look set for a busy winter as Antonio Conte aims to improve his lacklustre squad. Tottenham have picked up two wins, one draw and one defeat in all competitions since the Italian took charge.

Their most recent outing was a dreary Europa Conference League defeat to Slovenian side NS Mura.

Spurs, who are seventh in the Premier League, went behind in the 11th minute as Tomi Horvat beat Pierluigi Gollini with a curling effort.

Their night went from bad to worse as Ryan Sessegnon got a second yellow card 20 minutes later.

Harry Kane then dragged them level with a clever, chipped finish. But Mura gained their first points in the competition thanks to Amadej Marosa’s injury-time winner.

It’s no surprise that Conte is looking to revitalise the team in January with new signings and a few departures. But a report from Sport Witness, citing rumours in the Spanish press, names a surprising player who could leave.

They write that Bryan Gil is target for new Barcelona boss Xavi. The winger was only taken to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in July. Spurs parted with £21.6m, as well as Erik Lamela, to land the four-time Spain international.

But Gil is yet to make a big impact in England. His only goal contribution so far was an assist in the ECL qualifying victory against Pacos Ferreira.

Sport Witness claim that Barca are keen to engineer a loan deal for the 20-year-old in January, as they cannot afford to sign him permanently. Gil has apparently been ‘wasted’ by Spurs, but the Catalan giants have a plan to reinvigorate his performances.

Spurs ‘would not object’ to a deal, should Gil request the move. They may benefit by having a more confident player return to north London in the summer.

A transfer now hinges on an official approach from Xavi’s side.

The Analyst: Newcastle should pick up points under Howe but for bookings rather than wins

Kane slams ‘unacceptable’ Tottenham performance

Following the defeat to NS Mura, Kane told BT Sport: “Unacceptable really – didn’t start well going a goal behind, going down to 10 men made it difficult for ourselves.

“Second-half we showed some fight and spirit, got ourselves back into the game and if anyone looked like scoring it was gonna be us, but then an immature mistake at the end to concede a goal.

“We had all the play, but yeah it’s unacceptable. But yeah a tough night for us and we have to learn from it… we just didn’t get the job done, these nights away from home can be difficult if you don’t get it right and that was the case today.

“We was calm, we needed to up our game and we did that, but it wasn’t enough, they scored in the last second of the game and yeah it hurts.

“It’s our responsibility as players on the pitch to go out and win the game and we didn’t do that today Full credit to them, we have stuff to learn from, but we have to dust ourselves down.”

READ MORE: Four Tottenham flops named and shamed as Antonio Conte told to clear deadwood

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