Tottenham teen backed to become a star as former Arsenal man labels him ‘fantastic’

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What would be the most appropriate word to describe the Premier League newcomers first few months in the white shirt of Tottenham Hotspur?

Well, ‘mixed’, would be a pretty good one.

There have been glimpses of that outrageous raw talent – Tottenham beat Barcelona to his signature after all – but undercut by a few rather disappointing moments.

Lucas Bergvall suffered a very public dressing down from an irate Guglielmo Vicario after nearly gifting Leicester City a winner on the Premier League’s opening weekend. It was he who was sacrificed with less than 10 minutes on the clock as Radu Dragusin was sent off against Qarabag.

And, as Tottenham lost to a Victor Osimhen-inspired Galatasaray in the Europa League prior to the November international break, Bergvall’s performance did little to make Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur glance nervously over their shoulders.

Yet, former Arsenal, Everton, Birmingham City and Sweden midfielder Anders Limpar remains convinced.

He knows Bergvall’s father personally. And – with the 18-year-old’s family helping him settle into life away from his Scandinavian homeland – Limpar feels it is only a matter of time before Bergvall puts a testing beginning behind him and makes himself indispensable on the Spurs team sheet.

Lucas Bergvall backed to become a Tottenham Hotspur ‘mainstay’

“I sat and talked with his father for about half an hour a couple of weeks ago,” Limpar tells Fotboll Direkt. “We talked about the fact that he is young and his father, Andreas Bergvall, I played with at BP [IF Brommapojkarna] so we know each other.

“I asked how he is enjoying London. He is having a great time. His father is over for a month, then his mother is coming for a month, and he has a girlfriend who flies over. So, he enjoys himself.

“He is a good footballer, but he is young. If you look at Tottenham’s form in the Premier League, it has gotten a little worse lately and then you don’t lean on an 18 to 19-year-old from Sweden.”

Bergvall has not featured in any of Tottenham’s last five top-flight matches.

With Ange Postecoglou’s team losing on three of those occasions – against Brighton, Crystal Palace and even Ipswich Town – Limpar has a point when arguing that these are not exactly ideal circumstances within which to introduce a teenager still getting used to English football.

“In the matches I’ve seen with Lucas, he’s been fantastic. He just needs to be a little calm and ride out the storm, and I think it might be time for a change of coach,” Limpar adds, feeling that Postecoglou may be on borrowed time unless results change fast.

“They have one of the most talented squads in the Premier League but they just can’t get it together team-wise at the moment.

“But Lucas will be a mainstay for Tottenham in the future, I’m sure of that.”

Bergvall retains the faith of Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou

As wing wonder Mikey Moore dazzles for Spurs the Europa League, Bergvall has been overshadowed of late by another Tottenham teenager.

Yet, with competition for a starting berth arguably much more fierce in the centre of the park, the £8.5 million signing from Djurgarden has little choice but to bide his time.

There is also Archie Gray fighting for a midfield berth too, of course.

The good news is that he most certainly has the faith of the Spurs boss. Postecoglou labelled Bergvall ‘outstanding’ against Coventry City in the EFL Cup, while starting the youngster in each of Spurs’ last three Europa League outings.