Lucas Bergvall’s future at Tottenham Hotspur remains uncertain despite Roberto De Zerbi’s desire to keep the highly rated midfielder in North London, albeit not against his will.
The 20-year-old has already informed Spurs he wants to leave in search of regular first-team football, with Newcastle United among the clubs to have already seen a bid rejected this summer.
After Tottenham’s preseason win over Sydney FC on Wednesday, De Zerbi reiterated that he rates Bergvall highly but stopped short of promising
the Sweden international the playing time he is seeking.
“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. I want to be honest with the players. I want to be clear. I don’t want to make the first mistake,” De Zerbi said. “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. Tottenham is already, without me, a top club and we are not to convince anyone to stay.”
De Zerbi then acknowledged the midfielder still has areas of his game to develop.
“It’s right when he wants to play as a central midfielder. But to play as a central midfielder, sometimes it is to attack, sometimes to keep the holder, to move the ball faster… He has to improve.”
The latest comments come just days after De Zerbi said he would not stand in the way of players who wanted to leave, while The Athletic’s Elias Burke reported Bergvall had already informed Tottenham of his preference to move on.
Newcastle remains interested despite seeing a £46 million offer rejected and losing ground to Nott Forest in the chase for the midfielder, and De Zerbi’s refusal to guarantee Bergvall a larger role is unlikely to weaken the Magpies’ hopes of reviving negotiations before the transfer window closes.
