One of the underrated signings of the January transfer window happened just after deadline day, when Spurs announced they had successfully gazumped Barcelona for the signing of 17-year old Swedish attacking midfielder Lucas Bergvall. Bergvall, who is now a full international after making his Sweden debut against Estonia in January, just turned 18 and will join Spurs this summer from his current club Djurgården.
This is exciting not only because Tottenham snatched a promising youngster out from under La Masia’s nose, but also because Bergvall is considered one of the brightest talents to come out of Sweden in the past 25 years.
Thankfully, the current Allsvenskan season just started play (Swedish football runs April through November), so he’ll get another half-season of matches in before joining Spurs in June. But he’s already showing glimpses of why he’s so highly rated as a teenager, and what he could potentially offer Spurs as a first-team player, even next season.
In short, there are already suggestions that he’s living up to his hype. Here’s an all-touch compilation of his most recent match, a 3-3 home draw vs. Häcken on Monday.
I like these all-touch comps because it’s non-selective — it shows you the good and the not-so-good. There are moments where Bergvall successfully dribbles his opponent or makes a good line-breaking pass, and there are times when he coughs up the ball or gets marked out of play. There are examples of both, but also a lot of promising stuff in this compilation.
Bergvall is strong for a kid his age — he rarely gets shrugged off the ball in possession, something that is probably helped by his height and stature, and is particularly impressive in the air. Pape Sarr is a skinny kid, and looked even younger and skinnier when he was at Metz, but Bergvall does not look out of place against an experienced Häcken side. Bergvall has two blocked shot attempts in that video, one of which forced a very good save by the keeper and which was tapped in for a goal by a Djurgården teammate.
Fine, you say, but that’s just one match, right? OK — here’s another video vs. IFK Göteborg last week, in which Bergvall scores and has another header that flies just over the bar.
Notable here is how Bergvall has keen attacking instincts despite playing in a deeper midfield position. He constantly receives and shows for the ball, making turns to try and push forward in possession. He’s constantly moving his head looking for teammates and spotting runs, and crashes the box off the ball when appropriate. His goal (2:25”) is a neat header off a corner kick that you wouldn’t expect from someone his age.
Now look — the Allsvenskan is not the Premier League. Mostly, it isn’t even the Championship. But there are some decent teams at the top level — clubs like Malmö, Häcken, and Hammarby regularly qualify for European competition at some level, even if they don’t often make much of a splash. An 18-year old kid holding his own against grown men in any league is a pretty good sign, and Bergvall appears to be doing a lot more than holding his own, even if we should acknowledge that it’s hard to know what skills will transfer from this level to the Premier League.
But holy smokes, watching these videos it’s hard not to get excited. The feeling around the Carty Free writer’s room is that Bergvall plays a bit like Dele, if Dele knew how to dribble people. Bergvall certainly isn’t afraid to take on opponents and he looks extremely comfortable with the ball at his feet. Also impressive is the way he instinctively looks to get the ball forward into the attack the moment he gets on the ball. Are there holes in Bergvall’s game? Absolutely, but he looks well ahead of most kids his age and at his position, and he has the benefit of playing actual first team football.
Advanced statistics are hard to come by for Djurgården, but a source close to the Carty Free writer’s room with access to Opta data says that Lucas is taking 5.9 shots/90 and has 0.56 xG/90 in the league and Swedish Cup so far this season. Those are absurd numbers for an 18-year-old kid in any league, even with the small sample size.
The leap from Swedish first division to the Premier League is massive, and before we all get too far collectively over our skis on this kid there’s every chance that he’ll take — and need — some time. Football is littered with players who were promising teenagers and who never made it fully at the top level for whatever reason. Maybe Bergvall heads back out on loan next season… but maybe he doesn’t. Nobody expected Dele to make as big a splash as he did coming straight from League Two at age 19. Bergvall turns 19 next February, and Ange Postecoglou sold him on Spurs over Barcelona because of immediate involvement in the first team setup. That bodes well for him and suggests he’ll be given a chance to show what he can do. Spurs will almost certainly be involved in a lot more games this season, and it’s not unreasonable to think that he might get 500-1000 minutes of first team action at Spurs, pending transfers.
Stay cautious, stay skeptical, and above all stay patient about Lucas Bergvall at least in the short to medium term. He is, however, a player you can dream on, and dreaming on players is one of the great joys of football fandom.