Club chief confirms Barcelona were not happy with 'great' player's Tottenham decision

Tottenham have got plenty wrong over the last year, enduring a season they will hope to forget very quickly barring a surprising run in the Europa League. Ange Postecoglou finds himself under intense pressure heading into the final stages of the season, needing to show some serious improvement with his team to keep his job.

Injuries have plagued this campaign, but fans have not been satisfied by Postecoglou’s inability to fix many of the issues he has faced, and things haven’t looked too much better even with many of his key players back over the last few weeks.

Tottenham have not had enough quality in depth to compete this season, but they haven’t done everything wrong, The signing of Lucas Bergvall for just £8.5million appears to have been a stroke of genius, with the Sweden international showing immense ability and potential at just 19 years of age.

He has already racked up 22 league appearances, and not only does he look capable of playing at Premier League level, but he has often looked one of Tottenham’s most dangerous players. Bergvall was signed from the lesser known Djurgardens IF, where he was already a first team regular, and he joined as part of a solid investment in youth talent that also saw Archie Gray arrive from Leeds United.

It was a fine spot from Spurs, although they were not the only ones showing an interest, with Barcelona having pursued the youngster, according to a chief at Bergvall’s former club.

Barcelona hurt by Bergvall miss

Djurgardens IF sporting director Bosse Andersson told Aftonbladet via SportWitness: “Lucas Bergvall is an interesting footballer and has always been talented. We had the privilege of discussing with perhaps one of Europe’s biggest football clubs, Barcelona, who were interested.

“I think Barcelona were quite surprised, because you don’t just go to Barcelona to watch, go there and eat tapas and see if it’s nice. I think they were extremely disappointed that he went to Tottenham.”

“But the choice itself has proven to be absolutely right, he has come to Tottenham and has become an established Premier League player.”

Spurs boss Postecoglou has previously praised Bergvall’s impact, saying after the draw with Bournemouth: "Lucas was great. He has been great but he has played a lot and we've just got to be mindful of that. He's becoming an important part of our team. I thought he made a real big impact when he came on. Like I said we were sloppy when we were on the ball in the first half and he’s one who takes a bit more care with it. He's a technician and he carries the ball really well. I thought he and Sonny (Heung-min Son) made a really good impact when they came on."

Bergvall is currently with Sweden as part of the international break, first in action against Luxemburg on Saturday evening and then against Northern Ireland on Tuesday night, with both of those fixtures friendlies. Sweden’s World Cup qualifiers won’t begin until September.