Tottenham Hotspur rejected transfer requests from two Premier League rivals for Lucas Bergvall.
According to The Athletic, the offers came from Chelsea and Aston Villa during the January transfer window.
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The Swedish sensation has been a rare bright spot for Spurs over the past two seasons since his arrival.
He signed for Djurgarden in June 2024 and won Tottenham’s Player of the Year award in his first season.
Tottenham secured the youngster for £8.5 million, beating competition from Barcelona for the talent.
As a tenacious front-foot number 8, the 20-year-old’s dynamic performances in midfield helped lead the club to the Europa League final.
However, he was unable to play in the win against Manchester United in Bilbao due to injury.
The youngster, like most of his teammates, has suffered knocks and discomfort this season, missing games due to a concussion and a groin problem.
He is now out with an ankle sprain that could keep him out for another month or so following January’s Champions League setback against Borussia Dortmund.
Strangely, he has also been occasionally played in the wrong position by former Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank this season.
Bergvall played on the left wing or as a number 10 in some games.
And in a comment that angered some fans, the Dane appeared to suggest that the Swede and winger Wilson Odobert had a similar profile.
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After the 1-1 draw with Sunderland he said: “When we used Joao.” [Palhinha] and Lucas, there was a lot of running and going back and forth. Lucas played as a 10 and is almost on par with Wilson.”
The scenario he found himself in is believed to have alarmed Chelsea and Villa, who made direct contact with Tottenham.
However, the north London side, currently 16th in the Premier League and in danger of relegation, rejected interest and will not consider his departure.
Ironically, it was Spurs’ signing of Conor Gallagher ahead of Aston Villa and Boubacar Kamara’s injury – caused by a reckless foul from Palhinha.
After Frank was fired following the 1-2 defeat against Newcastle, Bergvall is due to have a new coach confirmed.
Former Juventus and Marseille coach Igor Tudor is set to be named interim coach ahead of the big north London derby against arch-rivals Arsenal on Sunday February 22.