One Swedish prodigy was all anybody could talk about on transfer deadline day. Barcelona and Tottenham battled tooth and claw to get Lucas Bergvall.
In the last days of the transfer window, Bergvall visited Barcelona’s training facilities as they seemed ready to sign him. He was quite close to completing the transfer when his club, Djurgardens, accepted their bid.
But then, Tottenham stepped in, giving him a greater salary and an instant promotion to the first team. Thus, Spurs were the player’s last-minute choice. This is even though the Premier League heavyweights have not yet issued an official announcement.
Bergvall allegedly received some help from compatriot Dejan Kulusevski in deciding to relocate to London. The latest development in the Bergvall transfer story has been reported by Matteo Moretto of Relevo, who explained why the player selected Spurs over Barca.
According to Moretto, Bergvall’s family thought a transfer to Tottenham was best for his career, even though he had always wanted to play for Barcelona. The Spaniards’ director Deco and the Blaugrana board had already talked to his relatives.
The Camp Nou side planned to make the announcement on the day of the transfer deadline. On the other hand, the player decided to transfer to Tottenham at the last minute.
Money was not an issue, according to Moretto, even though Bergvall will earn a much higher income in England than in Spain. The Catalans were certain that the youngster would go to La Liga, even if Spurs’ bid of $10.8 million had surpassed theirs of $7.6 million. Thus, the player’s family had a say in the matter, The Athletic confirmed.
Within 24 hours, the player’s relatives moved from fantasizing about life in Barcelona to changing their minds. Most notably, his family had hoped that he would move to London and pursue his career in the Premier League.
Before finalizing the deal, the 18-year-old visited Catalonia and had lunch with Deco. However, the reigning La Liga winners were not prepared to engage in a bidding war with any team for the Swede.
But Laporta had already acknowledged the possibility of difficulty when speaking with RAC1 on Friday morning.
“He is a great player, whom Deco has been following for a long time. As far as I’m aware he hasn’t signed anything with anyone yet. We made an offer, we had everything agreed with him and with the club.
“Tottenham has made him an offer with much more money. Our proposal is to play in the reserve team while working with the dynamics of the first team, but we are not going to make Tottenham’s financial offer.”
The Blaugrana have aimed at recruiting several promising young players. However, in addition to losing out on Claudio Echeverri, an Argentine sensation, they have also given up on Estevao Willian, a 16-year-old Brazilian sensation.
This led them to believe they had finally found a promising young player. However, Bergvall has also decided not to sign with them.
PHOTOS: IMAGO.
