Club fear Spurs are about to do Bergvall-esque deal with 18 y/o sensation

Tottenham Hotspur could be about to continue their youthful overhaul as they look to snap up another teenage talent, according to reports.

Tottenham investing in youth

Ange Postecoglou is doing an excellent job in north London, with Champions League qualification still a distinct possibility come the end of the Premier League campaign.

The success is being driven with a youthful side including the likes of Destiny Udogie (21), Pape Matar Sarr (21) and Brennan Johnson (22), while there is a clear transfer policy to sign younger players such as centre-back pairing Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin (both 22).

There is an even greater effort being made behind the scenes too, with the club looking to secure plenty of young talent for the longer term. This season alone, they have added Alejo Veliz (20), Ashley Phillips (18) and Luka Vuskovic (17).

Their major achievement, however, was beating Barcelona to the signing of Swedish star Lucas Bergvall, signing the teenager for £8.5m in January, with the midfielder set to make the north London switch in the summer of 2024. It is understood that there were five bids for his services, including Barca and a bid from the Bundesliga, but that Spurs ultimately prevailed.

Though there is plenty of transfer work on the senior side likely to be done too, Tottenham technical director Johan Lange outlined the plan for the years to come in north London.

“We want to be a destination for the best young talent out there and that can be talent coming into our academy in the foundation phase, or later and being developed in the academy, or in this case with Lucas it can be a player that we decide to try to see if we can buy them from a club abroad, in this case Djurgarden”, he explained.

Spurs trying to beat Spanish pair for 18 y/o sensation

Now, Spurs could be set to repeat their Bergvall success and snatch another player out of Barcelona’s hands, this time one that they already own. The player in question is youngster Dani Rodriguez, who is also thought to be being chased by Athletic Bilbao. The 18-year-old winger is out of contract this summer, though there is some confusion over whether Barcelona have an extension option in the current deal (as reported by transfermarkt).

As per Sport Witness, however, he appears certain to leave Barcelona this summer and it had been Atletico Bilbao that were most confident of securing his signature. But Tottenham’s arrival on the scene has doused their hopes of landing the teenager, and they add that ‘they’re not confident’ of beating the north London side to his signature should it come to it, with both Spanish sides now fearing missing out.

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Spurs already have a Van de Ven & Romero clone out on loan

Ange’s side might have more than a few top-class talents on their hands in the years to come.

For their part, his potential departure is understood to be ‘causing lots of worry’ at Barcelona, with Rodriguez having started all seven of their UEFA youth league games and grabbing four goals and three assists in the process. Clearly a prodigious talent, his acquisition would be another major coup for Postecoglou’s side in the wake of Bergvall’s arrival, and would continue their impressive youth policy of the last few months.