There is a lot of buzz around 18-year-old Lucas Bergvall, who turned down Barcelona to join Tottenham. We take a look at his game ahead of his first campaign in the Premier League following an impressive display in a pre-season friendly win over Hearts.
In many ways, this is an uncertain time at Tottenham.
There is stability and continuity in that Ange Postecoglou is still around to carry on the positive work he did last season, while much of the core of the team will remain the same.
Guglielmo Vicario will start the season opener in goal against newly promoted Leicester, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven will be at centre-back, Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie will line up at full-back, James Maddison will be in midfield and Son Heung-min will captain the side.
But there are still a few positions where things are less certain, and plenty of big questions surround the team.
Will they go out and strengthen their attack in the remaining weeks of the transfer window? Will Yves Bissouma be trusted in the number-six role or will somebody else be brought in? And which of the club’s talented youngsters will be trusted in the first team – and how much?
Along with Archie Gray, Jamie Donley and Mikey Moore, Lucas Bergvall is one of those young players. The 18-year-old Swede is quite possibly the one fans are most excited about.
That is in part because of how his move to Spurs came about. Bergvall turned down Barcelona to move to north London. Spurs fans who have grown accustomed to seeing potential recruits move to bigger clubs were delighted that someone so highly rated would choose them.
The deal was agreed in the winter transfer window, and the teenager’s insistence that he remain at Djurgården in his home country for another six months was roundly seen as an indicator of just how mature he was.
Now, though, with the teenager having joined officially at the start of the month and deep in pre-season training with his new club, those same Spurs fans are hoping Bergvall is mature enough to play a role with the first team this season. An assist and a positive overall performance in his first appearance in a Spurs shirt in Wednesday’s 5-1 friendly win over Hearts only fuelled the excitement further.
Bergvall insists his best position is as a “box-to-box number eight”, but it may prove a big ask for him to play in central midfield at Premier League level given he has less than 2,000 minutes of top-flight football – all in Sweden – to his name.
It might be more likely that he first plays in a more advanced role if he plays in the Premier League, though he will want to get Europa League game time in the middle of the park.
That is where he played against Hearts after coming off the bench at the break, and where he spent most of his time at Djurgården.
Against Hearts, he took up positions to get on the ball regularly, with only centre-backs Emerson Royal (70) and Gray (60) having more touches of the ball than him (55).
He received on the half-turn in positions between the lines and had a big impact on Spurs’ attacking play. No player made more passes in the final third than his 22, while he progressed the ball into the final third more times than anyone else on the pitch (8). Only Alfie Devine (4) created more chances than him (3), including his assist for Spurs’ third goal.
The middle of the park is surely where his future lies, but it would be understandable if Postecoglou thought it was too soon for him to play there at such a high level. He didn’t play out wide at all for Djurgården, but it might be something his new manager is considering.
The inch-perfect cross Bergvall put in from the right for Dane Scarlett before Ashley Phillips’ goal suggests he could play out wide, while his ball-carrying ability might further encourage Postecoglou to play him there to begin with, at least in part because he’d have less defensive responsibility out there.
Bergvall made 12 appearances in the still ongoing 2024 Allsvenskan season before leaving for Spurs, in which time he ranked fifth among the 68 midfielders with at least 500 minutes to their name for successful dribbles per 90 (2.0) – maintaining a 58.8% dribbles success rate – and eighth for carries of at least 10m upfield per 90 (4.5).
He also brought end product after moving the ball forward, ranking seventh for carries followed by a shot or chance created per 90 (1.3). His sole assist also came following a carry.
He also combined carries with successful dribbles, ranking ninth among the same group of Allsvenskan midfielders for the number of times he carried the ball at least 5m and then beat an opponent with a dribble, doing so 1.8 times per 90.
He has a valuable knack for breaking lines, and does so in a number of ways. As well as his ability to take the ball past someone, he looks to receive passes beyond the opposition’s midfield line – generally in the right half-space – as he did in the below instance against Hearts before driving forwards and laying on his assist for Moore.
With that assist, he also showed his ability to break lines with his passing; his aim whenever he is on the ball is to move play towards the opposition’s goal.
“I like to find solutions, to take the ball forward, play [to] my teammates in good positions and take risks to score,” he told The Athletic earlier this summer. “Maybe sometimes you lose the ball, but that’s to help the team.”
Having another creative midfielder alongside Maddison will undoubtedly help Spurs in attack, but that might be a luxury Postecoglou can’t afford. After all, last season their biggest problems were at the other end of the pitch. Spurs scored at a rate of almost two goals per game, but also conceded 1.6 per game. They conceded 10 more goals than 15th-placed Everton.
Looking at the individual quality in Tottenham’s defence, Postecoglou won’t feel much need to make a major upgrade this summer, but Romero and Van de Ven will need more protection next season, and the system may need tweaking to ensure that happens. Throwing a lightweight 18-year-old playmaker whose main concern is affecting the game in the final third into central midfield could potentially do more harm than good.
Bergvall isn’t afraid to get stuck in, but his ranking among Allsvenskan midfielders this season for regains (30th, with 5.0 per 90), tackles (48th, 1.5 per 90), interceptions (48th, 0.7 per 90) and fouls committed (38th, 1.1 per 90) show this side of his game isn’t his main priority nor his biggest strength. Djurgården are in the top half of the league for regains (seventh of 16), tackles (fifth) and fouls (fourth), so it isn’t as if there wasn’t the opportunity for Bergvall to contribute without the ball.
Spurs’ new midfielder is likely to have to stay patient and wait for opportunities to play because he just isn’t going to be as integral a part of Postecoglou’s team as he was in Sweden.
But there is a lot of ability, confidence and potential there for his new club to work with, and with Tottenham back in Europe, a big squad will be needed.
Bergvall will need to take the chances he is given, and if he does that, we could well end up seeing a fair bit of him this season. He is about as exciting a prospect as Spurs have had on their books in the last few years.
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