New England adds Spanish midfielder Carles Gil to squad after weeks-long chase

The Revolution made yet another addition to its attacking corps on Wednesday, signing attacking midfielder Carles Gil to a reported two-year contract. According to reports in Spain, Gil — pronounced Heel — had arrived at the Marbella Football Center in Málaga on Tuesday.

While the Revolution traditionally do not reveal contract details, including length, salary, and a transfer fee, Spain’s Radio Galega reported New England was to pay approximately $1.7 million for Gil’s release from Spanish Segunda side Deportivo de La Coruña, a club which reportedly looked to shed salary off its books.

As soon as the club receives his P-1 visa and his International Transfer Certificate, Gil will occupy one of New England's two Designated Player slots on the roster.

https://twitter.com/NERevolution/status/1090697153738039296

Gil joins a rather crowded attacking midfield unit, and is a player known for his creativity and skill on the ball. However, Gil has scored a total of 13 goals in 204 appearances for five clubs, and has scored no goals this season in 18 appearances for Deportivo headed into the last few weeks.

Deportivo had held the 26-year-old Gil out of its last few matches as transfer talk heated up between the Revolution and the Spanish side.

“He’s very technical on the ball and he’s a creator,” Revolution general manager Michael Burns told the club's social media host, Elizabeth Pehota. “He’s an attacking midfielder, a No. 10-type player. I think he’s going to add a dimension to our team that we don’t currently have and hopefully make all the players around him a little bit better.

“In terms of what he’s able to do, his vision, his technique (and) his ability to distribute the ball, that’s what he’s known for and that’s what we’re hoping he brings to us.”

Gil started his career with Valencia’s B squad before seeing the first team purchase his contract. He then went on loan to Elche Club de Football, also in Spain, and helped Los Illcitanos gain promotion to La Liga for the 2013-14 season. After a return to Valencia, English side Aston Villa purchased his contract in January 2015.

Villa then loaned him to Deportivo in July 2016, before the club purchased his contract outright in 2018.

BSJ Analysis

So if you’re keeping track at home, that’s now 12 attacking-minded players in Revs camp:

Strikers: Juan Fernando Caicedo, Teal Bunbury, Tajon Buchanan, Brian Wright
Attacking mids: Diego Fagundez, Cristian Penilla, Juan Agudelo, Nicolas Firmino, Isaac Angking, Justin Rennicks, DeJuan Jones, and Carles Gil

The addition of Gil puts the number of rostered players at 26. In addition, the number of international players is at seven, with one slot open.

I’ll be honest when I say that I didn’t recall Gil’s name when it first popped up in the transfer rumors this month. But BSJ member NERevsUK, who hosts a podcast about the Revs from the UK perspective, watches the Villans pretty frequently.

Mike reports:

“Pace is not the best. He isn't slow but he doesn't really have burst of speed either. He is good on both feet. I think he is right-footed but I don't think it matters what foot he uses. For a smaller player he has good strength on the ball and will battle to win the ball back. He will try the unexpected so as long as the player and the team is on the same wavelength he can unlock defenses with one ball. Saying all this but his game could have changed. I would say he weaknesses are pace and he will get fouled a lot as he will frustrate the opposition. Pluses are he is creative on the ball, he can keep the ball in tight positions.”

According to Burns, Gil will slide in as a No. 10 -- in other words, competition for Fagundez. I can say is that Gil’s inclusion into the squad should make Brad Friedel and his staff’s job in selecting an XI a little harder every week -- and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Now, if you’re concerned about the lack of goals from Gil, I wouldn’t sweat it too much. I would think he’s here to create and to draw defenses to him with his skill, and that should help free up a team member, unmarked, to score.

And if he does score, I'd call that a bonus.