After a summer of aggressive spending in midfield, where does Lucas Bergvall stand in the Tottenham pecking order, and are Spurs right to cash in?
That means decisions must be made. The likes of Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali have not been bought for a near collective £200 million to come and set in on the bench.
Similarly with Conor Gallagher on the books, James Maddison returning from injury, Archie Gray continuing to impress, and Rodrigo Bentacur in the building, the competition for places in that midfield is going to be fierce.
That potentially spells trouble for Lucas Bergvall. With interest mounting in the 20-year-old, Tottenham have a decision to make. So, what do they do?
What has Lucas Bergvall’s Tottenham career been like so far?
Since joining the Lilywhites in 2024, the young Swede has played 78 times. The majority of these appearances (44) have been as a central midfielder, where Bergvall has scored twice and made seven assists.
He’s shown versatility, though. He’s played as an attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder, and even both on the left and the right.
Bergvall won the Tottenham Official Supporter’s Club Player of the Season, as well as the One Hotspur Members and One Hotspur Juniors Player of the Season for 2024-25. He also finished tenth in the 2025 Golden Boy voting.
So, it’s not like he hasn’t impressed since joining the club.
But he is reportedly one Tottenham are willing to let leave if an appropriate offer arrives. So, why is that?
Bergvall was benched under De Zerbi and wants to leave
Lucas Bergvall started Roberto De Zerbi‘s first game in charge – the 1-0 defeat away to Sunderland.
He was withdrawn after 62 minutes for Pape Matar Sarr. He didn’t start another game.
He got 14 minutes of action against Brighton and did, to his credit, get an assist in a 2-2 draw. He played for 27 minutes away to Wolves. But against Aston Villa and Leeds, the Swede had a combined 10 minutes on the pitch.
He was left on the bench for the away defeat to Chelsea and 1-0 win over Everton.
Conor Gallagher was favoured in the more advanced midfield position, with Rodrigo Bentacur and Joao Palhinha becoming De Zerbi’s favoured central midfield pairing.
This left an impression on the young Swede, who has reportedly told the club he wants to leave. That’s down to a lack of game time. With the arrivals of Fernandes and Tonali too, it’s difficult to see that improving.
So, what next?
What sort of interest is there in Lucas Bergvall?
Tottenham have already rejected a £38 million bid from Nottingham Forest for Lucas Bergvall.
Forest are eyeing Bergvall as a replacement for England’s Elliott Anderson, who is moving to Manchester City.
There is also talk of Aston Villa being interested in Bergvall too following Youri Tielemans’ move to Manchester United. European heavyweights Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Napoli and Inter Milan are reportedly fans as well.
The more clubs interested, of course, the better for Tottenham. That gives them a better chance to push the price higher and make even more of a profit on the initial £8.5 million they paid for him.
So, how do Tottenham manage this?
With Bergvall wanting to go and the midfielders already in the building, it seems a decent opportunity to cash in.
Tottenham will need to make some sales to help balance the books and streamline the squad after a monster spending spree so far. Midfield is not a position they desperately need cover for now, and Bergvall could fetch a pretty attractive price this summer.
At still only 20, Bergvall has proven himself in the Premier League and still has plenty of room to grow. With excellent ball control, skills and agility to progress a team upfield, he has the attributes many clubs are looking for.
With a keen eye for a pass and ability to break the lines on counter-attacks, it’s not hard to see Bergvall becoming a real asset to another club.
This means Tottenham need to find a way to cash in on that future potential. Bergvall is not a player fresh out of an academy anymore. Keeping him on the bench seems foolhardy, especially given the sort of fee they could likely get for him – Forest are expected to return with an improved offer, after all.
Therefore, the structure of any deal will be key.
Three terms Tottenham should insist on when selling Lucas Bergvall
Tottenham secured a 20% sell-on clause for Luka Vuskovic. At minimum, they should be looking to do similar for Bergvall.
Say if he did move to Forest as a regular starter, Elliott Anderson has just left them for Manchester City for a whopping £130 million. Could Bergvall follow a similar trajectory? If so, a sell-on clause must be a part of the deal.
Of course, Spurs won’t be able to fetch anything close to £130m for Bergvall, but Forest’s opening bid of £38m feels insulting. Tottenham would be better off loaning him out than accepting that fee. Anything below £50m this summer feels like a mistake.
But what about a buy-back clause?
It’s an increasingly regular thing when younger players are sold and would give Tottenham a chance to get Bergvall back for less than the market value he grows to. It would be a pre-determined fee right now. At the very least, Spurs should get a ‘right-to-match’ clause, as they did in the Vuskovic sale.
The Swede would get his wish. Tottenham would get a substantial fee. And Spurs would also keep the door open to a return for a player with high growth potential.
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