Bryan Gil will be the name on the lips of all Tottenham fans on Thursday morning after his finest night in a Spurs shirt. Handed his second successive Premier League start with Antonio Conte having limited options in attack for Wednesday's vital game at Crystal Palace, the Spaniard wowed in his 77 minutes on the pitch.
A standout player for the Lilywhites in their 4-0 triumph, Tottenham fans chanted his name to the tune of 'Give It Up' by KC and The Sunshine Band long after he had exited the pitch and then moments after the final whistle had sounded. For a player who has had to patiently bide his time during his first 18 months as a Tottenham player, it was a moment he will never forget.
The hope is that Bryan will continue to excel for Spurs and that his name will reverberate around Tottenham Hotspur Stadium week after week. Given minutes here and there to show what he can do by Nuno Espirito Santo and Conte in the past, the youngster has just needed that chance to show his qualities to his head coach and the Tottenham faithful.
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Dejan Kulusevski's injury has presented him with the opportunity, and it is one he has seized with both hands. Starting positively against Crystal Palace as he saw plenty of the ball, Bryan saw one tame effort blocked before cutting inside and curling another straight at Vicente Guaita.
Quiet after that with Crystal Palace taking the game to Tottenham, it was in the second half when the ex-Sevilla man really started to catch the eye and trouble Patrick Vieira's side. Bryan played his part in Harry Kane's first goal of the night as he showed his intelligence by taking a couple of touches to move inside to create a yard of space before playing the ball out wide to Ivan Perisic.
Moments later he got an assist to his name as he picked out Kane with a precise pass between two Palace players for the striker to arrow the ball into the bottom corner. It was such a good piece of play from the Spaniard and one he fully deserves the plaudits for.
That wasn't the end of his influence on the game, however, as he linked up with Kane again as Son Heung-min hit their fourth and final goal of an unforgettable evening. Withdrawn in the 77th minute as Ryan Sessegnon replaced him, Bryan left the field to a kiss and a big hug from his head coach after his pivotal role in three of Tottenham's four goals.
He deserved that reaction from Conte and it was perhaps one that signalled he is now firmly in his plans going forward. Hailed by the Spurs faithful for his performance as they sung his name at full voice, more praise was to come from Conte after the game when speaking to football.london in his post-match press conference.
"It was really important, you know about Bryan Gil we are talking about a player who was born to play football. He understands football quickly. He's so clever, so intelligent to understand the situation," said Conte.
"Then you know this league is difficult, because you have to be good in quality and be fast and to have good endurance and he has this type of quality.
"But at the same time you have to be strong physically. I think compared to last season Gil is improving a lot also under this aspect. He has to become stronger physically.
"I compared him to Bernardo Silva, at Manchester City, because in my opinion they are really, really similar. He has to continue to work really strongly on the physical aspect because I repeat we are talking about a player with great quality."
Looking to be heading out on loan to Valencia again at the end of the summer transfer market before the plug was pulled on his switch, the player has been heavily linked with a January exit this month so he can get the regular minutes he needs elsewhere.
Amid question marks over what will happen with the 21-year-old ahead of the transfer deadline, the Spain Under-21 international has given Conte and Fabio Paratici a very simple transfer decision to make.
Proving that he can have an impact in the team having been given the opportunity by the Italian, Bryan must remain in north London beyond January. A loan exit would realistically leave Tottenham needing to bring in two attacking players as they would need cover for the starlet and then also for Lucas Moura, as he has barely played this term because of injury.
Already having to do without Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son and Lucas through injury at various times this campaign, Tottenham cannot afford to leave themselves too short in attack in what remains of the season as it could prove very costly indeed. Conte's comments in his post-match press conference do appear to indicate that loan moves are out of the question for the club's youngsters, which include Bryan and Pape Matar Sarr, after catching his eye on and off the pitch in recent weeks.
"Today is an important win, as you said, we know after Saturday in the FA Cup we face Arsenal and Manchester City, the two title contenders for this Premier League," explained the Italian when asked about taking the fight from the Palace win to the upcoming Arsenal fixture.
"To arrive with a good win is really important. My hope is to recover players who are in this moment injured, because we are talking about important players.
"I hope in these 10 days to have the possibility in the next game against Arsenal to have all of the players available. I'm talking about Richarlison, Bentancur, Kulusevski and also Bissouma today was out, but today Skipp and Sarr showed they they are really reliable players for me and I'm really happy.
"We exploited the period of the World Cup to work with these young players to improve themselves under the tactical aspect and physical aspect. Now they stay with us in the squad.
"I don’t want to send these young players on loan because the league is very difficult. We have to play Champions League, we have to play FA Cup. I think these young players can stay here to help us face these three competitions."
Tottenham fans are desperate to see more of their No.11 in action, and their wish is likely to be granted on Saturday when they take on Portsmouth in the FA Cup. It also presents the perfect opportunity for Bryan's name to be sung at top voice, just as it was on a memorable night for the team at Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening.
There's still plenty more to come from Bryan in a Tottenham shirt.
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