Newcastle United’s pursuit of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Lucas Bergvall is reportedly on hold for a UEFA-related reason rather than because of any change in their interest.
According to Football Insider, Newcastle intends to wait until around Aug. 16 before reviving its pursuit of the Sweden international. The report says the by-design delay is aimed at avoiding UEFA’s 45-day player-exchange accounting rules following Sandro Tonali’s £100 million transfer to Tottenham in early July.
“Newcastle United
could make a move to sign Lucas Bergvall within days after selling Sandro Tonali to Tottenham Hotspur,” Football Insider reported. “That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that UEFA’s new 45-day rule could be playing into Newcastle’s plans.
“Mick Brown told Football Insider, despite the departure of Eddie Howe, that the Magpies can ‘outbid’ Forest, but not for a couple more weeks.”
Borson told Football Insider that once the 45-day period expires, Newcastle will have greater flexibility in how a potential deal is structured.
“They may well be waiting just to see what happens with Newcastle because they need to wait for the 45 days to pass so that it’s not player exchange from Tonali,” Borson said. “Once that passes, and I think it’s probably about another 16 days for that, that opens up another possible route.”
The report follows Newcastle’s previously rejected bid for Bergvall, with Tottenham continuing to value the 20-year-old at around £60 million despite interest from multiple Premier League clubs and a much-lower market value of just £30 million on Transfermarkt.
It’s believed Bergvall had informed Spurs he wants to leave the club in search of regular first-team football, although head coach Roberto De Zerbi publicly said he would like the midfielder to stay. However, De Zerbi refused to guarantee him a starting role, or any minutes at all.
“He wants space. He wants to play as a double pivot as a position. I can’t give, for any player in the world, the place in the first XI guaranteed,” De Zerbi said after Tottenham’s preseason victory over Sydney FC. “I would like that he stays with us. I think he’s potentially a top, top, top player. But then I don’t want to convince anyone to stay.”
Newcastle remains interested despite reports that Nottingham Forest is also competing and seemingly leading the race for Bergvall’s signature.
According to Football Insider, however, the Magpies’ next move may simply have to wait until the UEFA timing window has passed before negotiations resume, with the possibility of Nott Forest or any other club perhaps taking advantage of that to snatch the player from London before the Magpies can act.
If Newcastle has to wait before making its next move for Lucas Bergvall, should the club stay patient or switch its focus to another midfield target? Share your thoughts on how the Magpies should handle the situation in the comments section below!
