Barcelona set to beat Arsenal to the signing of ‘giant’ 17-year-old wonderkid

Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt were among the interested parties, but as HITC Football revealed earlier this month, Barcelona have always been confident of securing his signature.

HITC Football can also reveal that Brighton made a late push to sign Lucas Bergvall from Swedish club Djurgarden, but despite all their efforts, he was already committed to a move to the Camp Nou.

A deal has yet to be finalised but it is expected Djurgarden will accept a deal worth £8.5m (€10m) and Bergvall will then make the move to Spain in the summer.

Barcelona beat Arsenal, Bayern Munich to sign Bergvall

It’s been a very quiet transfer window for Arsenal just a few days before deadline day.

Mikel Arteta has failed to add a single player to their squad as they look to go one better than last season in the Premier League.

They also have a Champions League campaign to concentrate on as Arteta will be relying on his strongest XI to try and carry them through the rest of the season.

Aside from missing out on Bergvall to Barcelona, Arsenal have also failed to land another youngster in Royal Antwerp’s Arthur Vermeeren.

The Gunners have struggled in front of goal and have been offered the chance to sign the likes of Martin Braithwaite, while they remain interested in Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic.

What have Arsenal missed out on in Lucas Bergvall?

The idea that Lucas Bergvall would have been able to make an immediate impact at the Emirates had Arsenal signed him is probably a bit of a stretch.

Barcelona sending him back to Djurgarden on loan for the rest of the season highlights that he’s not quite ready for first-team involvement at the very highest level just yet.

However, Bergvall is an incredibly talented young player and has already made his senior international debut for Sweden.

He’s already made 25 league appearances this season, although mainly from the bench.

Bergvall made his club debut as a 15-year-old for IF Brommapojkarna who have one of the most prolific academies in Europe.

Lucas Bergvall’s key attributes

They’ve helped develop the 17-year-old into a fantastic athlete who prefers to sit on the right-hand side of central midfield.

He has a real burst of speed and can change the tempo of a game instantly but is far from a world-class playmaker just yet.

Instead, he allows others to play killer passes with neat touches and a fantastic understanding of the space around him, drifting between opposition lines of defence to link play.

Bergvall might not immediately make headlines for Barcelona once his move is complete, but Arsenal will be hoping they don’t regret not making a bigger effort to sign him in the future.

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