Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi insists he wants 20-year-old midfielder Lucas Bergvall to stay at the club but only if he can provide the right “spirit” amidst transfer links to Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.
The Spurs boss was peppered with questions about the midfielder’s future at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday night, and while he said the Swedish international hadn’t outright asked for a move, he will not beg him to stay even though he wants him in his XI.
He showed that intent by starting him in midfield against Sydney FC in the Sydney Super Cup despite the backdrop of that speculation.
“I would like that he stays with us — I think he’s a potential top, top, top player, but in the end I don’t want to convince anyone to stay,” he said.
“I think Tottenham is already, without me, a top club, and we are not to convince anyone to stay. I think he can find the space because the competition between the players will be very strong. We are Tottenham and we have to build a strong squad, not just 11 players.
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“Especially considering a lot of injuries we suffered in the last two, three seasons. Football is going in a clear direction: to compete for the [highest] place on the table, you have to manage 22, 23, 24 players.
“I’m speaking with him before the end of the last season, during the World Cup two times, now we are speaking better now [face to face] without competition in this moment. Now I started to work [with him] like I know, like my style. In the last season, when we prepared the games, we worked on the head, on the mentality, more than the style of play.
“I think his position is very clear for me now also because I needed time to understand the characteristic of the players, but I would like that he stays with us. He’s a very young, very good player, good guy, and it’s not so easy and so fast to find a young player of that level.”
He continued: “He wants space. He wants to play as a double pivot as a position. I can’t give, for any player in the world, the place in the first XI guaranteed. I want to be honest with the players. I want to be clear. I don’t want to make the first mistake. In terms of position, I can’t give guarantee.”
With questions continuously circling back to Bergvall, De Zerbi concluded: “I would like that he stays. I would like that he stays, but if he doesn’t want, then what can I do? Nothing.
“He has to speak with Vinai (Venkatesham) or Johan Lange. To stay with us, we have to have the right spirit to stay. He’s a good guy. We will see in the next weeks.”
De Zerbi said the first team stars he didn’t play were not being rested, they actually weren’t ready to play and might not yet be against Chelsea on the weekend.
One person who did impress was teenager Luca Williams-Barnett, who came on in the second half.
“We have to manage him like a precious diamond,” he said.
“We have to help him to improve in the last decision. Physically, work harder to become stronger because this time of football, he needs to be strong, and to give him space when there is the right moment. I usually give time to all the young players I work with in my career, and he is a potential special player.”