"We're building a Spurs squad to compete now. This is not a project for five years time

BACK in December, in the run up to Christmas, Tottenham's technical director Johan Lange travelled to Stockholm on a special assignment. Lange's mission was to persuade Lucas Bergvall, one of the most exciting young players in Europe, to visit Spurs in the New Year.

- Johan Lange

Bergvall already had an invite from Barcelona and, when Lange sat down with the teenager and his family, Spurs were rank outsiders to sign him.

Lange, though, laid out the club's vision, explaining what they were building under head coach Ange Postecoglou and how they would play. Over and over, Lange came back to the style - it was at the heart of everything, he told the Bergvalls - using video clips to show how the midfielder would fit in to Postecoglou's front-foot team.

"[It was] not with the aim of him saying yes but the aim of him coming with his family to visit us," Lange told Standard Sport.

When Bergvall - accompanied by his parents and agents - arrived at Hotspur Way on January 29 (the day before they flew to Spain for lunch with Barca's sporting director, Deco), Spurs pulled out all the stops. Having already heard from Lange, the Bergvalls were given the hard sell by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and Postecoglou, as well as Lucas's international teammate Dejan Kulusevski and Spurs Women's coach, Robert Vilahamn, another Swede. "They felt at home," says Lange. "They're very intelligent people who really wanted to make an informed decision and feel that we were right for him." Bergvall was bowled over by Spurs; by the club's pristine training centre, Postecoglou's zealous belief in his football and Kulusevski's infectious enthusiasm for the project. On February 2, his 18th birthday, Bergvall snubbed Barca and signed a five-year contract in north London.

'Destination for the best'

The deal capped a strong winter window for Spurs, who had pulled off another coup by beating Bayern Munich to the signing of highly-rated Genoa centre-half Radu Dragusin - again, following a charm offensive by Postecoglou and Lange. The deals underlined the club's growing momentum, and demonstrated that their fervent commitment to a style of play was winning over players.