According to Sergio Reguilon, he was in Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur plans right up until the point that he wasn’t. Reguilon, who joined Spurs in the summer of 2020 and whose contract does not expire until June of 2025, has spent the whole of the past two seasons out on loan. He is also the subject of a lengthy interview by Matt Dickinson in the Times of London (£) today, where he discusses his relationships with Tottenham’s current and former managers, his “emotional” disposition, and why he still backs himself to be a top-drawer footballer.
Reguilon was signed from Real Madrid for Jose Mourinho as an attacking fullback playing in a counter-attacking side, off the back of a Europa League-winning campaign while on loan at Sevilla, and Reggie showed some initial promise in that role at Spurs. But he fell out of favor under Antonio Conte and spent the whole of the 2022-23 season on loan at Atletico Madrid, making just 11 appearances in what was an injury-blighted year.
Reguilon, along with all of Spurs’ players, was said to have been given a fair chance to impress new manager Ange Postecoglou when he was appointed this past summer, but instead, he was abruptly sent out on loan again, first to Manchester United as injury cover at left back, and then to Brentford mid-season as Ange preferred the incoming Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies to Reguilon. To hear Reggie put it, his loan departure was at odds to what Postecoglou said to him in preseason training, and the double-message confused him.
“During pre-season I was very happy and he [Postecoglou] was happy with me, also the staff. I was playing like a normal player, all the games. The week before, I went to see him. ‘You want me at the club?’ ‘Yes, I have to do a list and you are in my squad’. It was strange. The next day I was out of the training and I didn’t know what happened.
“I know I can play in Spurs, but in many aspects in football the player doesn’t have control. And I don’t want to stay to sit in the stadium watching. I am 27, I have too much football to live. I don’t understand why one day is ‘yes’ and next day is ‘no’ but . . . I don’t think it’s performance reason, I think it’s another reason, this is football, this is business. I still don’t understand the situation.”
Football is a ruthless business and sometimes there’s little room for sentimentality. It’s also true that we’re only hearing Reguilon’s side of the story here — I have no doubts that he believes he was in Postecoglou’s good graces before his loan to United. That said, I also watched with my own two eyes as Reguilon, starting in the Gamper Trophy preseason match against Barcelona, get routinely cooked by Raphinha en route to a 4-2 loss. It became very clear very early on this summer that even if he did stay at Spurs Reguilon would be at best a backup or rotation option and with a pretty difficult positional adjustment to make.
I also think there’s more to transfer decisions than what we know or understand. It’s possible that Reguilon was in Ange’s initial plans, but he saw something in training or preseason games that convinced him that transitioning to an inverted fullback role was not the best use of his skills. Or perhaps the club saw a loan to United as a better way to recoup Reguilon’s transfer value for this coming summer when he will have one year remaining on his initial five-year contract. We probably won’t ever know or hear about that process from Big Ange — it’s not his way. All we see are the results, and Reggie’s side of the story.
Reguilon went on to discuss his relationship with Tottenham’s past two managers, and expressed high praise for Jose Mourinho, recapping and confirming the story of how Jose gifted him a jamon iberico after a good defensive performance against Riyad Mahrez.
“Mourinho? I love him. He told me one day, ‘If we beat [Manchester] City and you put [Riyad] Mahrez in your pocket I will buy you a nice Spanish ham’. The next day it’s there. He made me feel welcome and as a coach I can only say good things. He’s world class. He convinces you that you are the best.”
That affection doesn’t necessarily carry over to Antonio Conte, whom he describes as “more angry” than other managers he’s worked under.
“More strong, more tactically focused on this winning mentality, pom, pom, pom.” A top professional, very intense, very emotional and for sure you get too tired training with him. So tired. Oh my God, very hard.”
Reguilon seems to allude to being pressured to play through a significant ankle injury under Conte, one that eventually required two surgeries to fully correct.
“We were playing for the Champions League and Conte wanted me. I was taking an injection for training, taking an injection for playing, even to start on the bench for three, four weeks. I was on my bed crying from the pain.
“I remember we played against Brighton, my last game for Spurs, and I took many injections. At home seven hours after and my ankle is like a balloon and I couldn’t feel anything, not my ankle or my legs. The next day I wake up and I couldn’t move and I say, ‘It’s time to stop’. It’s time to stop because maybe now I destroy my body.
“Of course, when you are at a top club, fighting for things, you are under pressure to play, the manager wants you, you feel important. If I don’t do this, [do they think] ‘Is it that this guy doesn’t want to play football?’ It’s a shit feeling. It’s not right. For one game, maybe a final, but not like this.”
Reguilon expressed a great deal of admiration for his two loan stops this season — at Manchester United, who terminated his injury-cover loan at midseason, and now Brentford under Thomas Frank, with whom he has forged a good working relationship.
“Thomas is a very honest person. I love the way he talks to everyone, to you, the players. I love him. He told me, ‘It’s a win-win. We love you, we need you and at the same time you need a manager who trusts you, believes in you, puts you on the pitch every weekend. It’s a moment in your career you need that stability’. I was thinking that myself. I could go to a team with more amazing names but it would not be the same.”
His Brentford loan is a “dry” loan without a purchase option, meaning Reguilon will return to Tottenham in the offseason and with one year to go on his contract. It seems unfathomable, after two years on loan away from Spurs and with Postecoglou seemingly uninterested in him, that he won’t be sold permanently this summer. It’s not that he’s a poor player, just that — like with others whom Postecoglou inherited from Conte and Mourinho — he’s not a good fit for what Ange wants to do with his Spurs team. It sounds like that’s led to some consternation for Reggie, but it’s also part of football. Meanwhile, he’s a regular starter for Brentford in the back half of this season and if he stays healthy there’s every chance he can attract some transfer interest this summer. That’s the most likely option, and one that would most closely align with everyone’s interests.