De Zerbi's Clear Message to Bergvall: Commitment Required
Roberto De Zerbi is not in the mood to beg.
Tottenham’s head coach made that clear in Sydney, where a laboured penalty-shootout win over Sydney FC was overshadowed by questions about Lucas Bergvall’s future and the arrival of a new midfield centrepiece in Sandro Tonali.
De Zerbi’s message to Bergvall: Stay if you truly want it
Bergvall, starting his first match of this preseason tour, is at the centre of a tug-of-war. Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest have already been rebuffed, yet uncertainty still hangs over the 20-year-old Sweden international.
Asked whether he had finally received clarity from the midfielder, De Zerbi stuck to a hard line built on standards rather than sentiment.
“I would like that he stays with us — I think he's a potential top, top, top player, but in the end I don't want to convince anyone to stay,” he said, doubling down on a theme that has run through his early months in charge.
This is not a manager selling the club. It is a manager reminding everyone where they are.
“I think Tottenham is already, without me, a top club, and we are not to convince anyone to stay. 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.”
That last line is the key. Under De Zerbi, Spurs are not building a team, they are building a roster built to absorb blows. And they know all about those.
“Especially considering a lot of injuries we suffered in the last two, three seasons. Football is going in a clear direction: to compete for the [highest] place on the table, you have to manage 22, 23, 24 players.”
Bergvall sits right in the middle of that vision. Young, versatile, technically sharp. But De Zerbi is clear: talent alone is not enough; mentality will decide who survives.
He has invested time in the Swede already.
“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. Now I started to work [with him] like I know, like my style. In the last season, when we prepared the games, we worked on the head, on the mentality, more than the style of play.”
The coach now feels he truly understands what Bergvall can be.
“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.”
The choice, though, will ultimately sit with the player. Spurs want him. De Zerbi rates him. But there will be no emotional sales pitch. You are in, or you are out.
Tonali: Tottenham’s “precious diamond”
While Bergvall weighs his options, another midfielder has no such doubts. Sandro Tonali has arrived from Newcastle in a record-breaking move and instantly become the headline act of De Zerbi’s rebuild.
If Bergvall is a prospect, Tonali is the centrepiece.
De Zerbi’s description of his new signing was loaded with both admiration and responsibility.
“But we have to manage him like a precious diamond. 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.”
This is not a coach dazzled by a big name. It is a technician eyeing the final polish: decision-making, physical robustness, the timing of when to take over and when to step aside.
Tonali will get patience, but not indulgence.
“I usually give time to all my young players I work with in my career, and with his potential, he is a special player.”
Between Bergvall and Tonali, you can see the spine of De Zerbi’s Tottenham taking shape: a squad built on depth, youth, and a ruthless demand for commitment. One midfielder stands at a crossroads, the other has already walked through the door.
The question now is simple: who truly wants to be part of what Tottenham are becoming?
