TOTTENHAM MIDFIELDER FACES MAJOR BLOW, CONFIRMS FABRIZIO ROMANO
Tottenham's midfield prodigy Lucas Bergvall faces more uncertainty as Sweden reportedly nears a deal to appoint Graham Potter as national team coach, following a turbulent international break.
Thomas Frank has steadied Tottenham Hotspur's midfield, which was among the poorest in the Premier League under Ange Postecoglou last season. Joao Palhinha and Xavi Simons were huge purchases this summer, and both players are expected to be among the best in their positions in the Premier League this season—Palhinha is already one of them.
However, certain young players from the previous season are expected to play a significant role under Frank. Compared to their work under Postecoglou, Archie Grey and Pape Matar Sarr are already making significant progress.
However, Lucas Bergvall is the true midfield star to keep an eye on. In his first season at Tottenham, he was a standout, and this season, he has been crucial once more. In addition to being a vital starter for his nation, Sweden, Bergvall must be a significant player for Spurs in the future.
The adolescent Tottenham player suffered several setbacks during the Swedish national team's recent awful October international break, including being controversially substituted out of the match against Kosovo.
Potter, not you
To Bergvall's dismay, that manager has now been fired, but Jon Dahl Tomasson's replacement as coach of the Swedish national team might not be any better.
Fabrizio Romano has reported that the Swedish national team is on the verge of signing Graham Potter as manager. However, Potter was just fired by West Ham after humiliating himself even more with the Hammers than he did at Chelsea.
Over the past three years, Potter has been among the worst Premier League managers, and he is not much of an improvement over Tomasson. It will not be much for Bergvall to work under Potter, and he will not likely learn anything from a man who is not even qualified to lead the Premier League's poorest teams that he can apply to Spurs.
Spurs and Bergvall have suffered since managers like Tomasson and Potter are likewise unreliable when it comes to selecting the top players and developing young players. Potter is increasingly coming off as a phoney who was merely supported by a fantastic scouting system that gave him access to Brighton's quality, and he did not even elevate the team's players to the calibre of his successors.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.