MX23RW : Sunday, November 24 17:35:58| >> :120:3976:3976:

Tottenham Hotspur's Lucas Bergvall confirms he rejected Barcelona move

Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall confirms he rejected Barcelona move
© Reuters
Tottenham Hotspur's new recruit Lucas Bergvall confirms that he turned down the opportunity to join Barcelona in favour of securing a move to North London.

Tottenham Hotspur's new recruit Lucas Bergvall has confirmed that he turned down the opportunity to join Barcelona in favour of securing a move to North London.

The 18-year-old appeared to be closing in on a transfer to Camp Nou at the end of last month, with reports claiming that Barca had reached an agreement with Swedish club Djurgardens IF to sign the midfielder for an initial €7m (£6m).

However, Spurs successfully hijacked the deal and swooped in to win the race for the signature of Bergvall, who has penned a five-year contract with the Premier League club.

Tottenham, who have allegedly agreed to pay around £8.5m to sign Bergvall in July, unveiled their latest signing almost 24 hours after the winter transfer window slammed shut.

Bergvall has expressed his delight for joining Spurs, but he has admitted that he was presented with a "50-50" choice over joining either Ange Postecoglou's side or reigning La Liga champions Barcelona.

"It was a very difficult choice, it was 50-50 for a very long time, but it felt like the next step for me was Tottenham," Bergvall told reporters as quoted by football.london.

"It was not very easy to say no to Barcelona, it took a very long time to decide. It was a tough decision. [The transfer to Tottenham] felt better in the stomach. They are both incredible clubs."

Bergvall has also revealed that he held a "persuasive talk" with Sweden international teammate and Tottenham winger Dejan Kulusevski prior to finalising his move to North London.

"We talked a little before. In general, how the club works, how they work, how they train, what the days look like," said the teenager.

Tottenham Hotspur's Dejan Kulusevski celebrates scoring their second goal on August 26, 2023© Reuters

"It wasn't a persuasive talk like that. He just said the club was great and I noticed that when I got there. I got an incredible reception, it's a very family club but incredible people.

"He was there and came by for five to 10 minutes and we talked a bit. Me and Dejan have had contact before. Both are from [Swedish club Brommapojkarna] so we have had contact before and I met him when I was trialling with Juventus in 2020."

Bergvall will spend the rest of the 2023-24 campaign with Swedish top-flight club Djurgardens, where he has made 29 first-team appearances since and including his debut in January last year.

The box-to-box midfielder, who made his international debut for Sweden in a 2-1 friendly win over Estonia on January 12, is currently with Djurgardens in pre-season ahead of the start of the 2024 Allsvenskan season, which begins at the end of March.

ID:536126:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect4711:

Click here for more stories about Lucas Bergvall

Click here for more stories about Tottenham Hotspur

Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Barcelona's Raphinha looks dejected after the match on December 16, 2023
Read Next:
Tottenham 'submit £60m bid for Barcelona's Raphinha'
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free match previews newsletter! Updates are sent twice a week.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
6pm
Vikings
@
Bears
6pm
Lions
@
Colts
6pm
Patriots
@
Dolphins
6pm
Buccaneers
@
Giants
6pm
Chiefs
@
Panthers
6pm
Titans
@
Texans
6pm
Cowboys
@
Washington
9.05pm
Broncos
@
Raiders
9.25pm
49ers
@
Packers
9.25pm
Cardinals
@
Seahawks
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Crystal Palace121561017-78
19Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
20Southampton121110924-154


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!