In February 2024, Tottenham Hotspur agreed a deal to sign the biggest gem in Swedish football for less than 10 million pounds, bringing home a future midfield star in Lucas Bergvall for the subsequent 2024/25 season.
The move alone was a great one for Tottenham at face value, but it earned additional praise and attention globally for the simple fact that Tottenham signed Bergvall ahead of Barcelona. The Blaugrana were seriously interested in Bergvall, a special prospect, and it was a rare case of Barca - known for attracting the best young players in world football - losing out on a gem to Tottenham.
Bergvall has been as advertised, if not better, for Tottenham and is so good that even Barcelona's rivals Real Madrid are eyeing him as a future Galactic signing once Bergvall blossoms into a truly world-class player. For now, the 19-year-old Swede is "just class" and, most importantly, a Europa League champion for Tottenham.
But Barcelona have improved a lot since their rough 2023/24 season, in which missing out on Bergvall was insult added to injury, as they cleaned up every domestic title in Spain and were a wild Inter Milan comeback away from potentially winning the Champions League.
Barcelona get a phenom of their own
Now, they've also got their gem prospect from Scandinavia, too, getting a bit of revenge over Tottenham in the process. According to Fabrizio Romano, highly coveted FC Copenhagen prospect Roony Bardghji will be moving to Barcelona next week, as the Champions League-caliber clubs have agreed on a transfer that will cost Barca just two million euros plus add-ons and a sell-on clause.
Bardghji was the next big gem Tottenham were looking to sign this summer, as Spurs were closely linked to the 19-year-old Swedish youth international. Less than a week ago, they were working hard on a deal and optimistic they could sign the exciting winger prospect to compete with the current crop of talents in Tottenham like Mikey Moore and 2024 addition Wilson Odobert, but Barcelona have swooped in and stolen Bardghji away.
Barcelona have a ton of pull on the transfer market, especially with young players, and while it is disappointing for Tottenham to not land a great young talent on the wings at such a low cost, they can't realistically beat Barca to everyone available.
Also, weirdly enough, Bardghji may have less competition at Barcelona with young players on the wings. Tottenham have Moore and Odobert, as well as two players already competing for stars on opposite wings in Europa League Final scorer Brennan Johnson and recent 35 million euro signing Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich.
Barcelona can have their revenge, but there's no doubt that Tottenham and its fans will be ecstatic with how Bergvall is turning out already.