Tottenham completed the signing of Swedish prospect Lucas Bergvall from Djurgardens on Deadline Day after hijacking Barcelona’s deal for the midfielder. So how did they do it?
It looked certain that the 18-year-old was on his way to Barca as the La Liga club were winning the fight for the player in the months leading up to January, fending off interest from several European clubs.
However, Tottenham got involved last week by inviting Bergvall and his family to their training ground and this move had a big role to play in the Swedish star choosing the North London club.
Writing in his latest exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Fabrizio Romano has explained how this major transfer story played out.
The transfer expert said: “Last week Tottenham organised a trip for Bergvall and his family to visit the Premier League club’s training ground this Monday. This gave the player the chance to speak with many people at the London club, which included Ange Postecoglou, who had conversations with the Swedish prospect.
“In the end, Spurs offered a higher fee to Djugardens than Barcelona and also convinced the player with their long-term project for the club. The London side also lured the midfielder to North London by offering him the chance to enter the first-team squad very soon, which is exciting for any young player.
“In addition to this, the influence of Dejan Kulusevski played a role in Bergvall choosing Tottenham over Barca, who spoke to his fellow countryman about the Premier League club and how everything works at Spurs.”
The hijacking of the deal has shocked Barcelona as Romano says that they were convinced that they were very close to completing the transfer.
“I can tell you that Tottenham successfully convincing Bergvall to join them was a shock for Barcelona as they were really convinced that they were close to signing the Swedish talent,” the transfer journalist said.
“The La Liga side were winning the fight for the player in the months leading up to January as Inter and Eintracht Frankfurt also wanted the midfielder but he kept saying he wanted to go Barca.”