The 20-year-old recently made it clear that he wanted to leave Tottenham.
Tottenham has been staring at a mass exodus in the ongoing summer window as the chiefs at Hotspur Way look to revamp their roster after two consecutive seventeenth-place finishes.
And while there have already been a few exits, taking the sales tally to £80m this offseason, there is still some to come. And among the expected players moving out the door at N17 is Lucas Bergvall.
His exit links came as a surprise to many given his status as one of the better young players in the roster at Tottenham.
But there have been reports suggesting that he wants to explore a move away to get consistent minutes under his belt to aid his development (something he would struggle to find at Tottenham following the arrivals of Fernandes and Tonali).
Jenas backs Lucas to succeed in Luka role
But along with all the exit talks, a former Lilywhites man has come out talking about the whys behind Bergvall’s struggle to succeed at Tottenham. He insists that the Swede midfielder was played out of position at N17.
Jenas cited how his teammate at Tottenham, Luka Modric, started thriving after the Croat was moved a bit deeper in the second phase. He suggested that something similar could be tried for Bergvall as well. Citing the links away from N17, Jenas told Football.London:
“It’s a tricky one, Lucas. It reminds me a little bit of Luka Modric when Luka arrived at the football club. I feel like with Luka, we didn’t quite know where to play him at that particular time when he arrived. Because when he arrived, he was so slight as a player unbelievable on the ball but I think everybody’s assumption was that he was like a number 10.
“As the weeks went by, it took Harry Redknapp’s experience and trust to look at him and go, ‘You know what, he’s a centre-midfield player and he can mix it in there. I can trust him there.’ Because in the Premier League, it’s so athletic and you’ve got to be so strong and so fit in the middle of the park.
“I think we always make that mistake in England, assuming that, actually, when you put ball players in there, they know how to deal with the game in that centre-midfield area. And Bergvall has just fallen into that bracket of: where do you play him?
“Is he more of where Martin Odegaard plays for Arsenal, or is he a deeper-lying midfield player? Is he more of a 6 or an 8? “I’ve seen him do them all and he does them well. He’s also very young, so he’s going to have those kind of up-and-down moments, but the one thing he hasn’t really managed to do is just hold down a spot.”
Lucas Bergvall can grow into his potential away from Tottenham
Luka Modric always had a high ceiling before he found his success in the English top tier. And we do know how Lucas Bergvall has a high ceiling as well (not comparing to Modric in any way). So if Tottenham does need to find a way to keep hold of him, giving him in a trio with Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes would give so much running power and energy in that midfield.
But that being said, Bergvall will have to compete with someone like Maddison at N17. So this is where he could move to one of his suitors instead. At the moment he has been linked with a move to Nottingham Forest, where he will replace Eliott Anderson in the midfield. So suddenly he goes from being a possible starter to one of the most integral parts of the midfield.
It does make sense for Bergvall on paper, but Tottenham fans would be in for a big disappointment if he were to grow into his potential away from Hotspur Way in the years to come.