Tottenham youngster could head out of Hotspur Way this season despite contract running until 2031

Liverpool show interest in signing Tottenham young gun.

Lucas Bergvall arrived at Tottenham from Djurgarden in February 2024. He has since made 77 appearances for Tottenham, swept the club’s end-of-season awards last campaign, agreed a contract extension until 2031 (FotMob), and attracted consistent interest from Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, and Chelsea. His estimated transfer value has risen to £55m. He is only 20 years old. He is, by some considerable distance, the most straightforward argument against Tottenham’s relegation that the club possesses.

Liverpool identifying Bergvall as a priority target (h/t OneFootball) tells you something significant about what a player contracted to a relegated club can suddenly become available for. It also tells you something significant about the speed with which Tottenham’s project can unravel if the final three matches do not deliver the required results.

The specific dynamics of Bergvall’s situation under De Zerbi require contextualising. He has not featured as prominently in the starting eleven since the Italian’s arrival as his previous contribution under Frank and Tudor might have suggested he would. De Zerbi’s system demands particular positional discipline in midfield, and Bergvall, whose natural game involves creative freedom and progressive ball-carrying rather than structured positional play, may require an adaptation period before fully integrating within the new framework.

Growing tensions

Having said that, Tottenham’s internal positions throughout the season are explicit: Spurs will not entertain selling Bergvall. He is “one of the last” players the club would consider moving on. Internal figures at Hotspur Way genuinely believe he can develop into a £100m asset. The lengthy contract provides leverage, and Tottenham hold every structural advantage in any possible negotiation.

The problem is that structural advantages dissolve in Championship football. A 20-year-old who turned down Barcelona to sign for Tottenham in 2024 made that decision in the context of Premier League ambition and Champions League possibility. Bergvall chose Spurs over Barcelona at a moment when Spurs represented a legitimate pathway to elite development. That calculus does not survive relegation unchanged. Liverpool, currently fifth but guaranteed Champions League football next season and building a transitioning squad under Arne Slot with serious long-term intent, represent a categorically different proposition to the one Bergvall originally declined.

De Zerbi has been told to block the exits of Romero, Van de Ven, and Bergvall. He has the authority and the relationship to make that argument persuasively to each player individually. Whether his argument is sufficient depends entirely on one variable: If Tottenham survive.