You have to feel for Steven Bergwijn.
When he scored those two goals in the final 80 seconds of Tottenham Hotspur’s stunning 3-2 win away at Leicester City in January, the Dutchman’s performance read like a masterclass in how to save your Premier League career.
With his confidence restored, and Antonio Conte singing his praises, that King Power cameo was supposed to mark the rebirth of Tottenham’s £27 million winger.
That was, however, until Dejan Kulusevski arrived on loan from Juventus a few weeks later.
These days, Bergwijn’s heroic performance at Leicester feels less like a ‘sliding door’s moment’ and more like the latest in a series of false dawns from a man who’s had his fair share of them since joining from PSV Eindhoven two years ago.
Bergwijn hasn’t started a single Premier League game following Kulusevski’s arrival.
He’s played just five minutes in Tottenham’s last three outings.
And if the London giants succeed in signing a third Juventus player since the turn of the year – Corriere dello Sport believe that Spurs are leading the chase to sign Paulo Dybala on a free transfer – then it’s difficult not to imagine Conte hammering another nail into Bergwijn’s Premier League coffin.
Will Paulo Dybala finally join Tottenham Hotspur?
Juventus confirmed this week that Dybala, one of world football’s up-and-coming superstars just a couple of years ago, a man many had labelled a future Ballon D’Or winner, will be leaving the Allianz Stadium when his contract expires in July.
Dybala came within touching distance of joining Tottenham for around £65 million in August 2019, the transfer falling through due to the Argentine’s wage demands (TalkSPORT).
Now, with Antonio Conte at the helm, and former Juve director Fabio Paratici pulling strings behind the scenes, Tottenham find themselves in a position of real strength as they look to fight off competition from their top-flight rivals.
What’s more, the presence of Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur in North London promises to ease Dybala’s adaptation should a move to the English capital finally come to fruition.
“Dybala? I can only learn from the path that Paulo has taken,” Kulusevski told Tuttosport of his former (and future?) team-mate.
“I love his way of playing. He has the game in his head. And, with his left foot, he invents magic that is usually only seen on the PlayStation.”
Kulusevski wanted to follow in Dybala’s footsteps at Juventus. Two years on, Dybala could soon be following in Kulusevski’s instead.
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