Should Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall have been nominated for PFA Young Player of the Year?
Lucas Bergvall may be the Premier League's best teenager.
A year on from joining Tottenham Hotspur from Djurgarden in his native Sweden for £8.5million ($10.8m), his reputation has increased to such a degree that should Spurs inconceivably consider moving him on, they could justifiably demand a tenfold increase.
The 19-year-old collected a clean sweep of the club's player of the season awards, becoming the first teenager since Glenn Hoddle to do so, and is viewed as an essential part of the present and future. The arrival of Thomas Frank, a proven developer of young players, should only help Bergvall.
So, how has he not made the shortlist for the PFA's Young Player of the Season award?
Before arguing Bergvall's case, this is not in any way intended to diminish the excellent young players who are under consideration. Liam Delap and Dean Huijsen earned moves to Chelsea and Real Madrid, respectively, off the back of excellent debut Premier League seasons with Ipswich Town and Bournemouth. Milos Kerkez looks set to leave Bournemouth for Liverpool too.
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Morgan Rogers is now a star player for Aston Villa and an established England international, and Myles Lewis-Skelly appears to be on his way to becoming Arsenal and England's left-back for years to come. His team-mate Ethan Nwaneri lit up the Emirates Stadium with sparks of his exceptional talent, scoring nine goals from 37 appearances in all competitions.
They are all worthy candidates for an award won by Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and Dele Alli (twice) — after all, it's voted for by the players. Still, Bergvall's omission indicates they have somehow overlooked his quality and potential.
His influence is not underrated in the stands at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As rumours circulated on social media of his ankle injury before the Europa League semi-final, fans panicked as if they were losing a key player. That's because they were. As evidenced by his awards, Bergvall was Spurs' outstanding player and a key part of their Europa League success.
Statistics can only go so far in quantifying the value of a player like Bergvall, for whom almost everything about playing in midfield at Premier League level comes naturally. He had a pass completion rate of 89 per cent in his debut season, only marginally beaten by Yves Bissouma (89.3) among Spurs midfielders to have started 10 games or more.
Compared to players in Europe's top five leagues and the Champions League, Bergvall ranks within the 85th percentile or higher for progressive carries (2.12), successful take-ons (1.62) and interceptions (1.62) per 90 minutes.
While unfamiliar to most English fans on his arrival, Tottenham had to fight off significant interest from Newcastle United and Eintracht Frankfurt. Barcelona sporting director Deco even had lunch with him and his family to convince him to leave Sweden for the Camp Nou.
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His season really kicked into gear in early January during the 1-0 win over Liverpool in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, with Bergvall scoring a late winner shortly after escaping a second yellow card.
From that point, the gifted, physically imposing (affectionately described as a 'lump' by team-mate James Maddison) teenager became Ange Postecoglou's most reliable midfielder.
At his technical best, he's a dribbler who can skip past challenges and weave through midfield. When needed, he can lean on his physical qualities and be destructive between both boxes and has the quality to be a match-winner in the final third. He may end up as the deep-lying controller that was seen sparingly, where he demonstrated an ability to control matches from deep and navigate the opposition press with composure and vision.
'I don't think he's left (Dejan Kulusevski's) side since he's been here, and Deki (Kulusevski) is in the gym all the time,' former head coach Postecoglou said in March. 'He's a great role model for him, and if nothing else, Deki has forced him to get in there and work hard on his game.
'He's also an outstanding technical player. His technical proficiency is still his greatest asset. He's growing; you've got to remember he's only just turned 19. He's still a very young man, and if he keeps building up physically as well, to the standard you need in the Premier League, particularly in that midfield position, if you have that physical ability and that technical proficiency, then you've got a decent player on your hands.'
It is testament to his progress that he is already capable of fulfilling these roles to a high standard with so much to come too.
That he only made 11 starts in the Premier League (Nwaneri made 11) is perhaps justification enough to overlook him. Bergvall was sidelined at the end of the season and had he taken the Europa League final by the scruff of the neck in the manner that he did in the quarter-finals against Frankfurt, his peers may have included him.
Next season and with such a high ceiling, it is not implausible that we will be talking about him as a contender for the main award after a second-season leap.
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