Tottenham Hotspur have rejected Nottingham Forest’s opening offer for midfielder Lucas Bergvall.
Despite not yet agreeing a fee, Forest’s interest in Bergvall remains and negotiations are expected to continue.
The 20-year-old midfielder is Forest’s primary summer target and the player they want to replace Elliot Anderson, who Manchester City have agreed to sign in a deal worth £116million ($153m).
Bergvall is under contract at Spurs until June 2031 but informed the club of his preference to move on this summer.
The Athletic reported his desire for a new challenge in June, and he has been the subject of attention from suitors in England and Europe.
The Sweden international joined Tottenham from Swedish club Djurgarden for £8.5m in 2024. In his first season he won Spurs’ player of the year award while helping the side to their first trophy in 17 years, the 2025 Europa League. Since head coach Roberto De Zerbi’s arrival in March, however, he started just once.
Tottenham have strengthened in midfield this summer with the £85m signing of Mateus Fernandes from West Ham United and the arrival of Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United in a deal worth up to £100m.
Aston Villa had also been interested in Bergvall, but are now set to finalise a move for Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Joao Gomes and Freiburg’s Johan Manzambi. They are also in talks to sign Joao Palhinha, who spent the 2025-26 campaign at Spurs, on loan from Bayern Munich.
Villa, alongside Chelsea, contacted Tottenham in the winter window to express interest in Bergvall before it was made clear the north London side did not intend to consider his departure.
Bergvall was part of Sweden’s 2026 World Cup squad and appeared in all four of their fixtures at the tournament before they were eliminated by France in the round of 32.
The Athletic reported on Wednesday Forest were set to sign midfielder Xaver Schlager on a free transfer after his RB Leipzig departure. The move would reunite Schlager with new Forest head coach Oliver Glasner, who previously managed the him at Wolfsburg.
Forest’s ideal Anderson replacement
Analysis by The Athletic’s Nottingham Forest correspondent Paul Taylor
Bergvall has long been Forest’s primary target as a replacement for Elliot Anderson, and he is somebody that fits perfectly into the transfer blueprint that the club like to operate.
The 20-year-old is a young player with huge potential to improve, even if he has already established himself as a highly regarded Sweden international.
Forest spent £37.5m to make another young player, Omari Hutchinson, their record signing last summer and they will have to eclipse that figure to land another bright prospect.
Anderson is set to complete a £116m move to Manchester City, a deal that will represent more than £100m in profit for Forest, who effectively signed Anderson for £15m from Newcastle, with back-up keeper Odi Vlachodimos a £20m makeweight in the deal.
Bergvall may not initially bring the same level of quality as the England international, but Forest believe he is a player who can fill the void he will leave and who will only grow in stature with the benefit of the first team opportunities Forest will provide.
Forest are set to strengthen their midfield options with Schlager set to join on a free transfer after the midfielder left RB Leipzig at the end of last season. The Austria international turned down a number of other clubs in favour of a reunion with Glasner, who previously managed him at Wolfsburg.
But, while that is seen as a good piece of business, landing Bergvall could be even more important for Forest, as they prepare for life under Glasner.
Spurs losing another promising talent
Analysis by The Athletic’s Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Jay Harris
Selling Bergvall and Luka Vuskovic in the same window would be a bitter pill for Tottenham supporters to swallow. They could have been this team’s star players for the next decade but record-breaking moves for Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali have demonstrated that the club’s strategy has changed significantly.
Bergvall started slowly in his debut season but became a fan favourite with energetic performances. The midfielder incensed Liverpool in the first leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final in January 2025 when he scored the winning goal shortly after narrowly avoiding a second yellow card for a reckless lunge on Kostas Tsimikas. It turned him into a cult hero overnight. He finished the campaign strongly and won the club’s player of the season award for helping Ange Postecoglou’s side win the Europa League.
Bergvall’s second season with Spurs proved more difficult. They burned through three different head coaches, suffered another injury crisis and flirted with relegation. As a result, Bergvall rarely started matches in his preferred position of central midfield and was shunted out wide to cover holes in the squad.
He suffered an ankle injury in January which forced him to miss eight games and he only started once after returning in March. He made 23 top-flight appearances in total for a grand total of 966 minutes. The arrival of Tonali and Fernandes has pushed Bergvall further down the pecking order.
Spurs will probably make a significant profit on a player they signed from Swedish side Djurgarden for only £8.5m but it will be a shame that, like Vuskovic, someone so obviously talented will be forced to fulfil their potential somewhere else.