De Zerbi's Tough Stance on Bergvall's Future at Tottenham
Roberto De Zerbi walked off the pitch in Sydney with a win on penalties and a familiar problem on his mind. The result against Sydney FC will be forgotten within days. The future of Lucas Bergvall will not.
The 20-year-old Sweden international started his first game of Tottenham’s tour, a chance to stake his claim in front of a head coach who is still shaping this squad in his own image. Yet when De Zerbi was pressed on whether he had any clearer idea of where Bergvall will be playing his football this season, the answer was blunt: no promises, no guarantees, no chasing.
“I would like that he stays with us — I think he's a potential top, top, top player,” De Zerbi said, before drawing a hard line. “But in the end I don't want to convince anyone to stay.”
That sentence hangs over Bergvall’s situation. Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest have already tested Tottenham’s resolve and been rebuffed, but the midfielder’s own intentions remain unresolved. De Zerbi’s stance is equally firm and revealing. Tottenham, he insists, are not in the business of pleading.
“I think Tottenham is already, without me, a top club, and we are not to convince anyone to stay,” he said. “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.”
The message is clear: stay, and you fight. Leave, and the club moves on.
De Zerbi has spent months trying to get under the skin of his players. With Bergvall, the dialogue has been steady and deliberate. “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,” he explained. Last season, with games coming relentlessly, the focus was on mentality and preparation rather than fully embedding his tactical blueprint. Now, in preseason, there is time to go deeper.
“Now I started to work [with him] like I know, like my style,” De Zerbi said. “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.”
That last line is telling. De Zerbi knows how rare this profile is. A 20-year-old with the technical level to operate in his demanding system, the temperament to absorb the pressure, and the ceiling to become “top, top, top.” Yet he refuses to build the project around anyone who is not fully committed.
His wider vision for Tottenham runs through every answer. This is not a team of 11 stars and a bench of passengers; it is a squad built for a long, punishing season.
“Especially considering a lot of injuries we suffered in the last two, three seasons,” he said. “Football is going in a clear direction: to compete for the [highest] place on the table, you have to manage 22, 23, 24 players.”
That is the reality he is planning for: rotation, depth, and internal competition at every position. Bergvall can be part of that. De Zerbi believes there is room for him. But he will not beg.
While the midfielder’s future hangs in the air, the Tottenham head coach has already fixed his gaze on another key piece of his rebuild: Sandro Tonali. Signed from Newcastle in a record-breaking deal, the Italian has been immediately wrapped in a metaphor that underlines both his importance and his fragility.
“A precious diamond,” De Zerbi called him.
The phrase is not empty praise. It comes with responsibility — for the player and for the staff. “We have to manage him like a precious diamond,” he said. “We have to help him to improve in the last decision, as [well] as physical work. He has to work hard to become stronger because this diamond footballer needs to be strong and to give space when there is the right moment.”
Tonali arrives with pedigree and expectation, but De Zerbi’s words strip away any illusion that talent alone will be enough. The Italian must sharpen his decision-making, harden his body, and adapt to the demands of a coach who is relentless with his young players, but also patient with their development.
“I usually give time to all my young players I work with in my career,” De Zerbi said. “And with his potential, he is a special player.”
Time. That is what Tonali will be given. It is what Bergvall is currently using — to think, to weigh up, to decide whether his future lies in north London or elsewhere.
De Zerbi, though, has already set the terms. Tottenham are building a 24-man squad to chase the top of the table. The door is open for Bergvall. The question now is whether he chooses to walk through it, or watch this new project take shape without him.
