One of the most surprising players to be linked with a move to Chelsea in the January window was Tottenham Hotspur wonderkid Lucas Bergvall, given the rivalry between the two sides.
A few seasons ago, it was almost impossible for a player to switch clubs. There have been a handful of examples, but Tottenham were on a level playing field with Chelsea, and it made a switch pointless.
Factor that in with the rivalry between the two London clubs, and it rarely happened. But these days, Tottenham are a side battling relegation, and while Chelsea’s form is bad, it is far superior to Spurs’.
PROVE ME WRONG: Pavlovic would be the perfect centre-back signing for Chelsea 💥
Left-footed, £35m and scores goals. Perfect.
It means Tottenham’s players become an option for the likes of Chelsea, Villa, Newcastle or even higher up the food chain. Certainly, in January, Bergvall was supposedly targeted by both Chelsea and Villa.
Chelsea were willing to pay north of £40m for Bergvall
The Sweden international has just helped Graham Potter’s Sweden qualify for the World Cup, thanks to a brilliant 3-2 win over Robert Lewandowski’s Poland. Viktor Gyokeres scored an 88th-minute winner.
Just hours later, Swedish outlet SportBladet reported how much both Chelsea and Villa were willing to spend to lure Bergvall away from North London in the winter window. Both were ready to pay £40m.
Or, more. Spurs had signed Bergvall for just £8.5m and yet, they flat-out rejected Chelsea and Villa. Even though it was going to be a massive profit in terms of Financial Fairplay, Spurs did not want to sell him.
Tottenham could be set to rue rejecting Chelsea bid
Spurs have made a last-minute move to hire Roberto De Zerbi as manager, and amid the fight to avoid relegation to the Championship, it might just hand Spurs the impetus to achieve top-flight safety.
FINAL: Who do YOU think should be Chelsea manager next season?
But if they do go down, so will the price of their players. Spurs will be forced to get players out of the door in order to reduce wages and bring in money to cover the loss of the Premier League’s TV money.
So, if Spurs do go down, it is easy to imagine that Bergvall will be one of several players to leave in the summer. But there is no chance that Spurs will receive offers of £40m for the Swedish star this summer.