Towards the end of the transfer window, Tottenham were in a very public battle with Barcelona to sign Lucas Bergvall, eventually winning it, but Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers tried their best to mess it up.
That’s according to Fotboll Direkt, who reveal new information about the race to sign the Swedish midfielder, recalling that Bosse Andersson, the man in charge at Djurgarden, had said a third club had made a late attempt for the 18-year-old.
In fact, the teams managed by Unai Emery and Gary O’Neil even offered more up front than Spurs, as they were ‘prepared to enter’ with bids of €12-13m up front, while the London club were sitting at €10m.
The problem was that Aston Villa and Wolves arrived too late, because Bergvall had already given his word to Tottenham.
That’s why the 18-year-old was ‘flattered’ by the ‘eleventh hour’ attempts, but told the two sides that ‘he could not possibly change his mind’, regardless of who the club was or how much money was involved.
In the end, Tottenham paid €10m for Bergvall up front, with bonuses expected to take the deal to €18.5m if all are triggered.
