Transfer News: Antonio Conte wants to keep Steven Bergwijn at Tottenham Hotspur amidst Ajax interest
According to Alasdair Gold, the club’s correspondent for Football.London, Antonio Conte would want to keep Steven Bergwijn at Tottenham Hotspur if it was up to him, amidst interest from Ajax for a potential transfer. He has struggled to get into the starting lineup over the last two months, which has resulted in his future getting clouded by uncertainty.
Bergwijn has been in fine form since March’s international break following his excellent performances for the Netherlands. He followed that spell with another goal against Newcastle United in the league despite being subbed on very late in the game. As such, his future at Tottenham depends on the player himself, which could indicate the possibility of an exit this summer.
The Amsterdam based club are desperate to secure the Dutchman’s services in the summer transfer window. His future with Spurs would also be influenced by the amount of fee that they would be willing to part ways with to get a hold of the winger. However, Conte will try his best to convince him to stay as the manager “likes him a lot”. Answering a question from a fan, Gold clarified:
“Conte likes him a lot and if it was down to him, he would keep him. The Dutchman is full of confidence right now after his three international goals in two games and the strike against Newcastle but he’s just unfortunate that Spurs’ front three are flying at the moment.”
Bergwijn to leave Spurs?
It is unfortunate how the 24-year-old has struggled to garner minutes despite impressing when given chances. However, we cannot blame the Italian manager either, as the attacking trio of Son Heung-Min, Harry Kane, and Dejan Kulusevski has simply been sensational for us.
Son, Kane and Kulusevski have combined to produce some of the best attacking football we have seen at the North London club for quite some time. Hence, one cannot fault the 52-year-old coach for continuously selecting the trio as we only have the Premier League to focus on at the moment.
However, we could be treading a dangerous line here as Bergwijn could decide to leave after this term. After all, a man of his talents would want to be a starter as he has all the qualities to play regularly at a good club. With the 2022 Qatar World Cup set to take place later this year, the ex-PSV Eindhoven winger would understand the role regular club football can play in his selection.
The Premier League ace has already suggested that he is keeping his options open for now. That means we may see him depart if he decided that playing regularly elsewhere would only give him the best chance to get into Louis van Gaal’s national team squad for the World Cup.
The Spurs attacker has not played even ten minutes of football in the last five PL games. That puts into perspective how dire the situation is right now. Keeping him with us would be essential moving forward, especially when we would compete on multiple fronts from the next season onwards.
More Tottenham Hotspur News
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Let’s hope that Conte can give Bergwijn more minutes as much as possible in the coming months to give us the best chance of keeping hold of the attacker. Only time will tell what lies in store for us regarding this matter but it is important that Spurs understand the role of good squad depth in winning silverware.
A player’s fortunes at a club can change in a snap of the finger. God forbid, an injury to one of our main attackers, or a drop in form from our wingers can hand regular football to Bergwijn but if he has the patience to stick around until then is something that only time can tell.
