Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
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» Bergwijn turned down Barca, but knew he had to join Spurs after video-call with Jose » Boss told him it was his moment to move and develop at a higher level for Euro 2020
STEVEN BERGWIJN still has the photographs from when Barcelona used Lionel Messi in their charm offensive to try and lure him to the Nou Camp.
Tottenham Hotspur’s new £27million Dutchman was just 12 when the Catalan giants offered to move his entire family to Spain.
They had identified the winger as a talent suited to the then-Barca coach Pep Guardiola’s style.
But Bergwijn’s dad – “Big Steven” – urged his son to resist the temptation and, instead, continue with his development in the Netherlands, first with Ajax and then at PSV Eindhoven.
But there were no such reservations when Jose
Mourinho contacted the
22-year-old on FaceTime last weekend to ask him to make the leap into the Premier League with Spurs.
In fact, when
Mourinho met the
Bergwijn family at
Tottenham’s
Enfield training ground on Wednesday afternoon, the emotion of it all prompted
Bergwijn’s dad to burst into tears of joy.
Bergwijn’s agent Fulco van Kooperen said: “Steven had a FaceTime call with Mourinho – and he was very impressed.
“Imagine that, as a young player, you suddenly have Mourinho looking and talking to you on your mobile phone!
“Steven knew that other Holland internationals such as Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Memphis Depay had also worked with Mourinho, but, after that conversation, he didn’t even feel he needed to ask their opinion.
“He had a great feeling about Mourinho after talking to him and that was enough to be convinced he was making the right decision.
“What impressed Steven most was that Mourinho knew everything about him. Jose explained in detail how he wants to play for Tottenham.
“Mourinho told him that this was the moment to move, so he could develop more as a player at a high level before the European Championship.”
Bergwijn was still just a star-struck schoolboy when Barcelona invited him for a trial.
His family were booked into the same hotel as that used by Guardiola and his players while they prepared for a game – and Messi was happy to pose for pictures.
But Big Steven felt it was too soon to uproot his son from his hometown of
Almere. Twelve months later, Bergwijn quit Ajax’s famed youth academy to join PSV – and that meant his father became his personal chauffeur.
Bergwijn explained: “My dad drove me from Almere to Eindhoven for every training session and every game.
“This is why I wanted my dad, my mum and my brother to be there this week when I met Mr Mourinho.
“After I signed for PSV, I used to get up at 6am every day to go to Eindhoven with my father.
“When I was training, my father slept in the car in the parking area of the training ground.
“After training, we drove back to Almere, so I was back at school at 11.30am. That’s how it went every day.”
Bergwijn grew up idolising Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – but he believes that he can bring a touch of “Neymar” to Tottenham.
He added: “I have always watched Neymar. He is doing great things at Paris Saint-Germain and the way he plays football really appeals to me.
“When I was younger, I would only look at Messi and Ronaldo.
And when I see them all play now, I think that is what I want to achieve.
“That would be the ultimate for me.
Messi’s the best ever.
Ronaldo is really special too.
“But I look at
Neymar, in particular, because I think I have a similar style to him.”