There’s a lot of good and interesting information in John Percy’s new article in the Telegraph about Roberto De Zerbi and Tottenham Hotspur’s summer refresh, but let’s skip over that for now. Buried in the middle of this piece, which looks at Tottenham’s summer approach after De Zerbi’s appointment, a fresh pile of invested money from the Lewis Kids, and two consecutive 17th place finishes is a short paragraph about Lucas Bergvall.
Bergvall, of course, is making waves within the club and the fanbase
by publicly agitating for leaving the club, considering he’s looking at significantly less playing time this season than the past two. However, on the heels of a report from Gianluca DiMarzio that suggests Spurs rejected a £43m approach from Nottingham Forest for Bergvall is this from Percy — Spurs are now signalling that the Sweden international is not for sale.
Tottenham expect some players to be sold this summer, but are determined to retain the core of their squad. Lucas Bergvall, the Sweden international, has expressed a desire to leave amid concerns over game-time but the stance is that he is not for sale. De Zerbi and Lange are both understood to have held talks with the midfielder to assure him of his part in the club’s future. Bergvall also signed a new contract up to 2031 in April.
Now does that mean that Bergvall is absolutely not for sale, or is this a “not for sale unless we get a stupid money bid” situation? I suspect the intent is to keep ahold of Bergvall, but with Forest now flush with Elliot Anderson cash, we may have to see if they will test Spurs’ resolve. Bergvall is not only viewed as a young player with a very high ceiling, but he’s also both home-grown and club-trained for European football purposes starting this year. That doesn’t matter this next season with Tottenham out of Europe, but if Spurs should qualify next season it could be very significant as they attempt to build a squad that can compete on multiple fronts.
If, however, you’re someone who is a fan of stable and long-term planning, this article is not going to make you happy. Percy paints a picture of Tottenham’s leadership, appalled at the near relegation last season, that has abandoned any semblance of a big picture approach to squad building in favor of throwing cash at the problem and giving Roberto De Zerbi and Johan Lange free reign. Spurs will almost certainly be a better team next season than last, but it could come at a cost of a managed approach that sets Spurs up for long-term success.
There is also an intention to be more decisive, and strike quickly and ruthlessly in the transfer market. Four signings have already arrived, with £52m centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke, former Liverpool captain Andy Robertson, Marco Senesi and Martin Dubravka signed before the end of June. De Zerbi wants at least two more signings, with a centre-midfielder and wingers understood to be the priorities.
Manchester City’s Savinho is admired by the recruitment team. The plan is to sign “oven-ready” players with Premier League experience who will not require any time for adaptation.
…
While De Zerbi will provide his input on signings, the responsibility of recruitment will largely fall on Lange and his staff. De Zerbi is comfortable working within a structure similar to former club Brighton.
Lange was given a more hands-on role in October and has become more prominent since Fabio Paratici’s exit earlier this year. He has overseen a revamp of the medical and sports science departments this summer.
That suggests that not only is Lange not being held accountable for the disastrous windows over the past couple of years, but the club is doubling down and pushing for a top four finish next season. What notably isn’t mentioned in the article is what the ramifications will be if Spurs do NOT meet that lofty goal, or if De Zerbi, as he is wont to do, explodes and disintegrates into a cloud of anger and pique. Also, the club seemingly deciding that the issue was less quality and effective player recruitment and more a lack of funds feels like the wrong conclusion to make after some notably poor transfer windows, all overseen by Lange and former co-Sporting Director Fabio Paratici.
Meanwhile, the club is also still signalling that the problems with the club were, again, mostly the problem of outgoing chairman Daniel Levy, and there seems to be a great willingness to continue to blame the club’s woes on his leadership.
Tottenham’s owners, the Lewis family, recently injected another £100m into the club and have their sights set on a top-four finish. Former executive chairman Daniel Levy stepped down last September after 25 years in the role, and the Lewis family want to alter the perception of the club. Levy was known as a tough negotiator who only wanted the best deals for Tottenham. However, that stance often frustrated rival clubs to an extent that transfers became fractious affairs and, sometimes, abandoned.
Take their £60m pursuit of Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White last summer as a perfect example. Gibbs-White’s previous contract included a release clause but Levy’s attempts to alter the payment structure infuriated Forest, whose owner Evangelos Marinakis was already livid with what he perceived to be an illegal approach. Within the space of a week, the deal was completely off.
Tottenham now want to operate far more quickly and that is the clear message from the club’s owners down to the football department.
Levy has always been controversial, but I maintain that while he might have lost his fastball in recent seasons (and certainly since the stadium was completed) he was 100% a net positive for the club over his tenure, and that the current leadership’s insistence on sticking the knife in at every opportunity comes across, at least to me, as churlish.
I dunno, gang. I want to be optimistic here, but I get the sense that this is not how well-run clubs operate. I want to be wrong. I hope I am! But this feels as much like Spurs are pushing all their chips into the middle and going all-in while holding a gut-shot straight draw. It could work out brilliantly. I worry about the long term sustainability.
