Roberto De Zerbi says he would like Lucas Bergvall to remain at Tottenham Hotspur, but he cannot guarantee him a starting role and doesn’t want to “convince anyone to stay”.
Bergvall informed the club of his desire to seek a new challenge in June, and Tottenham have fielded interest from Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest for his signature.
Before Tottenham’s game against Auckland last Sunday, De Zerbi said he had not spoken to Bergvall, but after handing the Sweden international his first minutes of pre-season in their 4-2 (1-1 in regular time) penalty shoot-out win over Sydney FC on Wednesday, the Italian said he would like the 20-year-old to remain at the club.
“I’m always being very clear with him and with you,” De Zerbi said in his post-match press conference. “I would like that he stays with us. I think he’s potentially a top, top, top player. But then I don’t want to convince anyone to stay. Tottenham is already, without me, a top club and we are not to convince anyone to stay. He can find the space if he stays with us.
“The competition within the players will be very strong because we are Tottenham and we have to build a strong squad. Not just 11 players. Especially considering a lot of injuries we suffered in the last two, three seasons. Football is going in a clear direction – to compete for the highest places in the table, you have to manage 22, 23, 24 players. I don’t want 24, but 21, 22, of a high level, for sure.”
In an injury-hit season last term, Bergvall was in and out of the side under Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and De Zerbi, and was used in various positions. Bergvall typically played as one of two players at the base of midfield under Ange Postecoglou in his debut season at Tottenham, where he won the club’s player of the year award, and after experimenting with him in several roles, De Zerbi says he now recognises that position as his strongest, but he cannot give him assurances over consistent starting minutes.
“It’s very clear, his idea,” says De Zerbi. “He wants space. He wants to play as a double pivot as a position. I can’t give, for any player in the world, the place in the first XI guaranteed. Especially for me. I want to be honest with the players. I want to be clear. I don’t want to make the first mistake. In terms of position, I can’t give guarantee. It’s right when he wants to play as a central midfielder. But to play as a central midfielder, sometimes it is to attack, sometimes to keep the holder, to move the ball faster.
“He has to improve. He’s a 2006 (born player). I would like that he stays. But if he doesn’t want, then what can I do? Nothing. He has to speak with (chief executive) Vinai (Venkatesham) or (sporting director) Johan Lange. To stay with us, we have to have the right spirit to stay. He’s a good guy. We will see in the next weeks.”
According to De Zerbi, Bergvall has not directly had a conversation with him about wanting to depart. He also added that they spoke during the World Cup, but having time together in pre-season, where they can talk face to face, is “better”.
“No, never,” De Zerbi responded when asked whether Bergvall had ever told him directly that he wants to leave. “I’m speaking with him before the end of last season and during the World Cup two times, but now we are speaking better. On the face (face to face). Without competition, in this moment, I have started to work like my style. Because in the last season we prepared the game working on the mentality more than the style of play.
“His position is very clear for me now, also because I needed time to understand the characteristic of the players, but I would like him to stay with us. He’s a very young, very good player. Good guy. It’s not so easy and so fast to find a young player of that level.”
Bergvall is one of many central midfielders Tottenham had at the club before the summer, and they have since broken their transfer record twice for Matheus Fernandes (£85million) from West Ham United, followed by a deal worth up to £100m for Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United.
Tonali was a second-half substitute and dispatched his penalty in the shootout, but Fernandes was left out of the squad, along with several senior players, including Micky van de Ven, Kevin Danso, Jan Paul van Hecke and Dominic Solanke.
While the rest of the group could be involved in Saturday’s fixture against Chelsea, De Zerbi does not expect Fernandes back until they return to pre-season training in London next Wednesday due to a fatigue issue in his calf.
“(His injury is) just fatigue, the calf,” he said. “Also for him we took the decision to not take any risk and to recover. But next Wednesday when we start the pre-season in London, he will be ready to work.”