Who is Lucas Bergvall? You might not be seeing him on the field for Tottenham this season, but the Lilywhites have a new player joining their ranks, and you’re going to want to know all about this teenage sensation before he makes his debut for the club.
Despite huge interest from Barcelona, Lucas Bergvall chose to join Tottenham on transfer deadline day in what has been described as a “stunning coup.” The 18-year-old will cost the North London club around £8.5m plus add-ons, and will stay with Djurgardens until the end of the season (The Athletic).
So, what’s the big deal? We’ve got the lowdown on Ange Postecoglou‘s latest recruit, so you can be ahead of the curve and fully versed in Bergvall statistics by the time he joins up with the first-team in the summer.
Name: Lucas Erik Holger Bergvall
Age: 18-years-old
Place of birth: Sweden
Current club: Djurgardens IF
Former club(s): Brommapojkarna
International appearances: One cap for Sweden (Transfermarkt)
Club appearances: 41 appearances, 4 goals (Transfermarkt)
Lucas Bergvall career stats
He may have only just turned 18, but Lucas Bergvall already has two full seasons of senior football under his belt from his time in Sweden, and he’s even made his debut for the Sweden men’s national team, too.
The Swedish Allsvenskan league runs a little differently to the Premier League, beginning in March and ending in November, so we are best looking at the 2023 campaign for information on Bergvall’s impressive progress.
During that season, the youngster missed just four league games and made 28 appearances in all competitions for Djurgardens, scoring three goals and bagging one assist (Transfermarkt).
Funnily enough, Bergvall came through the Brommapojkarna academy as a boy, which is the same academy that produced current Spurs star, Dejan Kulusevski. He then moved on to Djurgardens for a relatively huge €900,000 (£768,000) last year.
Bergvall made his full international debut on the 12th January 2024, getting 31 minutes as a substitute in a win over Estonia, when he was just 17-years-old (Transfermarkt).
Lucas Bergvall strengths and weaknesses
Put simply, Lucas Bergvall is exactly the kind of dynamic, silky, all-round number 8 Spurs have been looking for. He is equally adept at breaking up the opposition’s attacks as he is at playing a perfectly-timed pass to help his side transition the play, and has the athleticism to cover the entire pitch.
He is incredibly agile and loves to carry the ball forward, but one of his most impressive attributes is his ability to help his team retain possession through composure, ball control, and awareness. Essentially, Bergvall knows exactly when to keep the ball, when to play a simple pass, and when to go for the kill.
Football data analyst, Ben Griffis, has broken down some of Bergvall’s key skillsets with handy graphs and comparative statistics in this thread, which really helps to paint a picture of what Spurs can expect from their new midfielder.
What we glean from this is that Bergvall is also really useful when his team don’t have the ball, too. He loves to press the opposition, he’s strong in the tackle, and he works incredibly hard for the team.
The data displayed below also corroborates the notion that Bergvall does the simple things really well, helping to keep his team ticking over until the moment is right to break the lines and advance on the opponents.
The only potential pitfalls to Bergvall’s impressive range of talents are in his raw speed and strength. He’s no slouch, often using his long legs to propel himself forward, but in terms of actual acceleration, we could see more. Similarly, he’s not exactly weak, but could become stronger in his upper body to evade being outmuscled in the middle of the park.
What are people saying about Lucas Bergvall?
There is a great degree of hype surrounding Lucas Bergvall, with many claiming he can be the next outstanding Scandinavian playmaker, capable of following in the footsteps of the likes of Christian Eriksen and Martin Odegaard.
That is the belief of Rondo Reports, who label Bergvall a “wonderkid” and a player who has the potential to become a “complete midfielder” in years to come.
Scouted Notebook have described Bergvall as one of the best young players to come out of the Swedish leagues, and he has been billed as “the next big thing” for quite some time now. Indeed, Djurgardens own website calls the youngster “Sweden’s most talked about” talent.
The Spurs fans are happy, too. Football Confidential described the move as “incredibly exciting” while another fan called the youngster a “generational talent.” Meanwhile, a Swedish Tottenham supporter believes Bergvall will “spread magic” at the club next season.
What do The Spurs Web think?
All signs points towards Lucas Bergvall being the real deal, and we could well have an unbelievable talent on our hands here. The fact that Spurs want to introduce him into the first team next season says it all, and his skillset certainly lends itself to everything Ange-ball is all about.
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