It certainly does seem like Lucas Bergvall is heading for at least a temporary exit from Tottenham Hotspur this summer. After discovering that he’s likely to be well down the pecking order at Spurs this coming season under Roberto De Zerbi, Bergvall and his agents have been not-so-quietly pushing for a transfer so that he can get regular playing time.
The club closest to Lucas so far this summer is Nottingham Forest, and while the clubs’ relationship has been somewhat acrimonious since last summer’s
failed transfer for Morgan Gibbs-White and the apoplexy of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, they appear to be trying to bury the hatchet over this potential deal. John Percy, writing for the Telegraph, claims Forest have had a £38m bid for Bergvall rejected, but are planning to submit a £45m bid imminently. Spurs value Bergvall at £50m, but if the bid were to be accepted, Bergvall would become Forest’s all-time most expensive player purchase.
£45m would represent a good return on investment for Spurs, but Percy also writes that De Zerbi has had conversations with Bergvall over his future and has reassured him that he’s a big part of Spurs’ future. Nevertheless, Spurs could decide to cash in on Bergvall.
There are no indications in this article whether the agreement would include a sell-on or buy-back fee, but both would make a ton of sense considering Bergvall’s age and the amount of time Spurs have put into his development already. He’s very close to being a home-grown and club-trained player for Tottenham, which would be incredibly useful if and when Spurs qualify again for European competition. And it’s really a shame that Spurs AREN’T in Europe this season, because that would be an excellent opportunity for Bergvall and some of Spurs’ other young stars to get valuable minutes in a second competition this season.
Oliver Glasner is now in charge at Forest and we know he knows how to develop a talented central midfielder as we’ve seen with Adam Wharton. It’s not the worst place Bergvall can go if he’s determined to leave, and he’ll be viewed as the midfield replacement for Elliot Anderson. I’m not wild about the idea of selling Bergvall, but if there’s a pathway for Spurs to bring him back at some point if he develops into the player suggested by his early promise, it’s not the worst thing in the world. And the money would go towards offsetting Spurs’ already prolific spend this summer.
