Sean Walsh, editor and writer at 90min, believes that Brentford’s acquisition of Sergio Reguilón until the end of the Premier League season is a “shrewd bit of business”.

The Bees have been without key player and regular left-back Rico Henry since September due to a serious knee injury, and Walsh – who reports regularly on both Brentford and Tottenham Hotspur – says that the two defenders share many of the same qualities.

Sergio Reguilón has not played for Spurs since the 2021/22 season, owing to loan moves since then, but what did you make of him during those two initial campaigns?

It has been a strange experience because he arrived at Tottenham the same day Gareth Bale returned to the club on loan in September 2020 and one of the conditions for signing him was that they had to include a buy-back clause for Real Madrid.

For the first couple of months, it looked like Madrid could activate it because he started really well and fitted in with José Mourinho's vision. He was really dynamic going forward and brought a lot of pace and energy to the team. As that season went on, I think a lot of Spurs players regressed; it was not necessarily just him. It was the same thing under Nuno Espírito Santo, when there were a lot of underperformers in the team.

Under Antonio Conte, though, Reguilón was one of the first players to show a real, marked improvement and, after the first few months of his reign, I came away thinking he was a real Conte-style wing-back.

Ultimately, he just could not add the goals and assists part to his game, which Conte so craved from his wing-backs. That led to Tottenham shipping him out on loan and they brought in Ivan Perišić instead, with Ryan Sessegnon as the other option.

It was not so much a knock on Reguilón's quality, it was just that he was not suited to what Conte wanted. There was always a good player there and I think that was really shown by the fact he was able to get a loan move to Manchester United at short notice and I think he played well for them earlier this season.

Despite the loans to Atlético Madrid and Manchester United, Reguilón has perhaps not played as much as he would have liked. How much will he be relishing a regular run in the team at Brentford?

Reguilón has not played regularly since midway through the 2021/22 season, so it does feel like a real chance for him to play more regularly.

At Manchester United, where he was brought in as emergency cover, he got injured. This is a real chance for him and Brentford have needed a left-back for a while; it feels like a long time since they had a natural left-back to cover for Rico Henry.

Reguilón and Henry share a lot of qualities, so I think this is a really good fit and a chance for him to raise his stock level as well.

Do you think he will be able to fill the void left by Henry?

I think so, yes. When Henry is in the team, it does feel like he is one of the most consistent performers and you know what you are getting with him. When he's not in the team, because Brentford don't have a natural left-back as cover, it is harder to replicate that.

Stylistically, both Reguilón and Henry are quick, good on the ball, have a decent delivery and are full of energy. I think this is a really good piece of business by Brentford, to bring someone in on loan for the time being.

You mentioned some of his qualities there, so what are the biggest parts of his game that Brentford fans can look forward to seeing?

His energy. He is someone who will get up and down the left flank a lot; he is going to be running in behind and getting into a lot of good attacking positions.

As I mentioned, Reguilón has got a good cross on him which could prove useful with Ivan Toney coming back.

Under Conte, he did not get enough goals and assists and I think that is mainly because he is more suited to playing in a back four sometimes or playing in a back three where he is not asked to get right into the box. I think this is a system that suits him, whether it is the 4-3-3 or the back three Thomas Frank plays sometimes.

What should we expect from him as a person?

Reguilón has an infectious personality; he is very open, very bubbly and is a very happy, cheerful guy. Brentford are bringing in someone who, by all accounts, is very sociable and just great to get on with.

When Christian Eriksen was at Brentford, there was a lot of talk about the fact he would sit with anyone at lunch, for example, and I can imagine Reguilón fitting in in a similar way. I think he will enjoy this. He just wants to be in a place where he feels wanted and is going to play a lot, which goes hand-in-hand with his personality.

All the signs point towards this being a good move for both Reguilón and Brentford, don't they?

Yes. Coming into the January transfer window Frank said left-back was a priority and he is a really good Premier League left-back. This is a shrewd bit of business from Brentford when they really needed it most.