Roberto De Zerbi delighted with new Lucas Bergvall deal but quiet on Richarlison
Tottenham rejected two bids for Bergvall during the summer and he has now signed a new long-term deal.
Roberto De Zerbi is delighted Lucas Bergvall has committed his long-term future to Tottenham but provided no update on wantaway Richarlison and instead aimed a thinly-veiled dig at the forward.
Highly-rated young midfielder Bergvall signed a new contract at Spurs on Friday only two months after the club rejected bids from Nottingham Forest and Newcastle for the 21-year-old.
There were doubts over Bergvall’s future during the summer, but De Zerbi has convinced him that he can develop at Tottenham and in his favoured number eight position.
Ahead of Saturday’s visit of Everton, De Zerbi said: “I am delighted for the extension of his contract. He is working very well.
“It is difficult because of the competition in his position. (Sandro) Tonali, (Rodrigo) Bentancur and (Conor) Gallagher are all a high level, but at the end of the season he will play a part in many games, I think, and then he has to improve.
“We have to help him improve and he has to work like he is doing and especially in this season. At the beginning of pre season he has been fantastic.”
Bergvall can expect to be involved against Everton, but Richarlison will not face his old club after he was left out of Spurs’ 25-man Premier League squad list following a dramatic couple of weeks.
Richarlison has still not secured a move away after De Zerbi claimed he “decided everything alone” last week and with transfer windows in Saudi Arabia and Turkey now shut, the last option is a return to Brazil where the deadline to sign players is midnight on Friday.
Quizzed for an update on Richarlison, De Zerbi said: “I don’t know.
“It’s not my job. What I can say is I know very well what the club has done for Richarlison and I know very well what Richarlison has done for the club in the last month, two months.
“I know, the club knows, he knows, his agent knows. Everyone knows better than you (the media). Much better.”
Richarlison will be joined on the sidelines by Chelsea loanee Mykhailo Mudryk, who is out for the foreseeable future with an ankle injury.
Mudryk made his first competitive appearance in 22 months at Nottingham Forest on Saturday after he served a suspension for recording an “adverse finding” of banned substance meldonium in 2024, but it will be followed by a lengthy spell out.
De Zerbi said: “Mudryk, it was a stupid injury and we hope he can come back as soon as possible. For him and for us.
“For him because he suffered too much and for us because we lost an important player.
“He played 15 minutes in Nottingham, he played well, but it’s in the normal process when one player doesn’t play for a long time.”
Spurs remain without a goal or win in the Premier League after a summer of lavish spending and big changes, but De Zerbi is relaxed.
“I think we are better than last season, especially the end of the season, many, many injuries. It’s difficult to believe right now because we are not winning, we are not scoring, but I’m positive,” De Zerbi insisted.
“I believe in my players, I believe in this group of players. I think the players have big, big qualities, big potential, and now I’m positive.”