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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Dan Kilpatrick

Steven Bergwijn sale begins Tottenham summer exodus with more departures to follow

Steven Bergwijn is set to lead Tottenham's summer clear-out after they agreed a €30m (£25.8m) fee with Ajax for the winger.

Bergwijn was undergoing a medical in Amsterdam on Wednesday morning ahead of signing a five-year deal with the Dutch champions, having turned down interest from Everton.

The fee could rise to €32.5m with adds-ons, meaning Spurs would recoup the £27m they paid PSV Eindhoven for Bergwijn in January 2020.

Spurs rejected Ajax's £17m bid for the 24-year-old in January but he made just one league start under Antonio Conte last season and was largely restricted to late cameos from the bench.

The Netherlands international nonetheless made an impression, scoring twice in stoppage time in the dramatic 3-2 win at Leicester in January, which felt like a significant juncture in Spurs' season.

Bergwijn was Jose Mourinho's first permanent signing as Spurs coach, and made 83 appearances for the club, scoring eight times.

His departure is likely to begin a summer sale at Spurs, with Cameron Carter-Vickers, who joined Celtic for £6m, the only player to have left permanently so far.

Returning loanees Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso reported back to Hotspur Way on Monday but are not part of Conte's plans for the season, despite Ndombele raising the possibility of staying at Spurs. “Yes, I think it’s possible to be happy at Tottenham,” he said in an interview with French media yesterday.

Harry Winks and Joe Rodon are both desperate for regular first-team football and are pushing for exits, with the latter open to a loan deal before the World Cup.

Winks has attracted interest from Everton and Southampton, as well as clubs in Spain, but is not currently close to leaving his boyhood club.

Steven Bergwijn made just one Premier League start for Tottenham under Antonio Conte (Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)

Spurs would also consider offers for Sergio Reguilon and Emerson Royal, while Conte is set to decide whether to keep Pape Matar Sarr in the first-team squad or send the new signing on loan to an English club. As it stands, the young Senegal midfielder is expected to be part of the club's pre-season trip to South Korea.

Bryan Gil is also expected to be given a chance to impress Conte in Asia following a loan spell back in LaLiga, despite the head coach's reservations about his suitability for the Premier League.

Conte is prepared to be ruthless in leaving unwanted players out of the travelling party for Korea, where Spurs face a K League 1 XI and Spanish club Sevilla, but will not decide his final group until the day of their departure.

The squad are set to undergo Covid testing on Friday with the international players due back in training on Saturday morning, ahead of an evening flight to Seoul.

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