Tottenham have confirmed a deal to sign young Swedish star Lucas Bergvall after surging ahead of Barcelona in the race for his signature in the final hours of the winter transfer window.

The highly-rated 18-year-old has signed a contract which will run until 2029, though he will return to Allsvenskan side Djurgarden and join Spurs in the summer.

Current La Liga champions Barca were hopeful of completing a deal for the teenage midfielder, who had spent much of the week in Catalonia before a change of heart saw him decide to move to England instead.

Before the transfer was announced, club president Joan Laporta had revealed the Catalan club’s proposed plans for Bergvall.

He said: “Lucas Bergvall? Deco has been following him for a while. As far as I know, he still hasn’t signed with Spurs, but their offer is higher than ours. They tell us that he plays like Frenkie [de Jong]. We offered him to start in Barca Atletic with projection into first team.”

Mundo Deportivo claimed Spurs have offered Bergvall a quicker route into their first-team squad beginning in the summer.

The central midfielder began his career in IF Brommapojkarna’s youth ranks – future Spurs teammate Dejan Kulusevski is a famous graduate from their set-up – and later trained with European giants Manchester United and Feyenoord.

Bergvall stayed with Brommapojkarna, helping them win promotion to Sweden’s top flight in 2022, and in turn earned a move to giants Djurgarden. He scored two goals in the 2023 Allsvenskan, with the 2024 edition set to start in April.