Steven Bergwijn's expected departure from Tottenham Hotspur sums up the desire from the club to move on with the Antonio Conte project even if it means giving up on previous signings.
The Dutchman has plenty of admirers at Spurs, not least Conte, but as soon as the winger made his intention to depart the north London club clear so Tottenham moved on quickly and signed both Richarlison and Ivan Perisic, who can both play in his left-wing role. football.london understands that reports suggesting a fee has been agreed with Ajax for Bergwijn are slightly premature, but the move is expected to go through sooner rather than later with Spurs holding out for a fee as close to the £27million they paid PSV in January 2020 as possible.
The expected departure of the Netherlands international shows that Tottenham are willing to accept what must happen to shape Conte's squad even if it shines a light on their previous recruitment, however recent.
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In Bergwijn's case, he has received plenty of praise from the Italian, as well as previous head coaches Nuno Espirito Santo and Jose Mourinho. However, injury and not being able to force his way into the starting XI has prevented him from building on some big moments, including his early goals against Manchester City and Manchester United and the late dramatic strikes at Leicester City in the Premier League.
"Have I talked to [Ajax coach] Alfred Schreuder about my future? I'm at Oranje now and then we'll have a look. It would be nice if there was clarity soon. I just have to go play, but I want to leave Spurs now, that's for sure," Bergwijn was quoted as saying last month by Dutch media outlet Algemeen Dagblad. "Whether it is important that my new club plays in the Champions League? That's not even top priority. Though it would be nice. What's important is that I'm going to play."
On that rebuffed Ajax move in January, he added: "I wasn't allowed to leave Spurs in the winter and then I didn't have any problems. The last few months I was hardly looked after there. Now I want to play somewhere weekly. That could be [an option], yes, [a return to the Eredivisie]. It's about my situation now, that has to be different."
Bergwijn's relationship with Conte has been a strange one. The 52-year-old former Inter Milan and Chelsea boss believes the Dutchman has the ability and he blocked his departure in January, yet only handed him a single Premier League start.
Bergwijn ended the campaign with four goals and two assists, including those two dramatic added time goals at the King Power Stadium as well as a starring role in the Carabao Cup quarter-final against West Ham. During that period the winger also had a big moment with the Netherlands, scoring the goal that took them to the World Cup among other strikes for his country.
"We are talking about a player with important qualities. It was a shame for me that he left during the international break, because I would have liked to have gotten to know him better during this break. It was of course not a shame for him, because he scored and qualified with the Dutch national team for the World Cup," said Conte back then.
"Obviously he has a lot of quality. He’s good one-on-one, he’s quick and he can score goals. We are working with him and he understands what I want from him. For me, he is one of the forwards and someone who can play in the three positions up front. I’ll have to make an important evaluation, but Steven is in my squad and I’m counting on him."
Yet the form of Son Heung-min and January arrival Dejan Kulusevski kept Bergwijn out of the starting line-up and even in his best periods of form, Bergwijn found himself relegated to second choice attacking substitute from the bench behind Lucas Moura.
A popular player within the club, Bergwijn's frustration is understandable at this point in his career. He suffered misfortune with ankle injuries at key points just when he was finding some rhythm and he's missed some big opportunities himself, but he's also provided some crucial goals in big moments.
There's a sense among some within Tottenham that while an older player like Matt Doherty reacted to his time out of the team with increased efforts, impressing Conte in doing so, the younger Bergwijn at times took his frustrations to heart. That was perhaps understandable when Conte would constantly praise the Dutchman in the media but the minutes just weren't there for him alongside those words.
In 2022, Bergwijn got just 239 minutes of Premier League football, the equivalent of playing two and a half matches. It's not hard to see why he wants out of north London and Ajax are desperate to take him back to the Netherlands where he will play week in, week out.
Tottenham's acceptance that he can go shows their desire this summer to get things done and with Bergwijn they have a player in high demand, with Premier League clubs also interested.
What the Italian head coach decides is key and he has greenlit a move for Bergwijn. In that vein, Spurs are also willing to give up on their two most expensive signings of the pre-Conte era in Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso, while Bryan Gil and Emerson Royal, both only signed last summer, could be on their way while the club will also listen to offers for Sergio Reguilon, who arrived just two years ago.
It's set to be very much Antonio Conte's Tottenham Hotspur next season and that will be key to allowing the Italian to do his best work, but it might just see the odd player become a star elsewhere and Bergwijn will hope he can be exactly that.
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