Ange Postecoglou may have found Tottenham’s next Mousa Dembele

While Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham teams did not win trophies, they featured many talented players. The attack boasted Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dele Alli scoring prolifically. Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld formed an excellent defensive partnership, while Hugo Lloris was usually reliable in goal.

However, perhaps the most underappreciated player from that era was midfielder Mousa Dembele. The Belgian joined Spurs from Fulham in 2012 for £15 million and quickly became integral to the team. Under Pochettino, Dembele developed into one of the Premier League’s best central midfielders, capable of winning possession and driving forward with the ball.

His teammates and manager recognized his immense talent. Kyle Walker called him “the best player I’ve ever seen play football” while Pochettino deemed him a footballing “genius.” Dembele made 249 appearances for Tottenham before departing in 2019.

Now, it appears Ange Postecoglou may have uncovered Spurs’ next version of Dembele in young midfielder Lucas Bergvall. The 19-year-old Swede joined last summer from Djurgårdens for around £8.5 million. After taking some time to adapt, Bergvall has recently been one of Tottenham’s most impressive performers.

Like Dembele, Bergvall is versatile across midfield positions. But his standout quality is his ball-carrying ability. Statistics show Bergvall ranks among the Premier League’s top midfielders this season for metrics like total carrying distance, successful take-ons, and progressive carrying distance.

While still very young, Bergvall appears to have the potential to become Tottenham’s next great central midfielder in the mold of Dembele. His combination of technical skill, physical attributes and tactical intelligence at such a young age suggests he could develop into a top-class player for Spurs in the coming years.