Bergvall: 'Having Deki as captain took some getting used to!'

Lucas Bergvall admits having his good friend and team-mate Dejan Kulusevski as his captain for the Sweden National Team was a rather unusual experience.

Speaking exclusively in our Official Matchday Programme ahead of Thursday's return to the Europa League, the midfielder reflected on the latest international break in which he claimed his second and third caps for his country while Dejan also skippered Sweden for the first time in his career.

Having displayed his leadership qualities early in Jon Dahl Tomasson's tenure as Sweden boss when he delivered an Ange Postecoglou-inspired pre-match team talk, Deki's suitability for the role were further enforced by the role he has played in helping 18-year-old Lucas settle into his new life in London and the challenge of the Premier League - something which didn't go unnoticed by Tomasson, who pointed to those efforts by the forward as one of the reasons behind making him skipper.

Capped for the first time by his national team back in January, Lucas claimed just his second as Deki captained his nation for the first time in a 3-1 win over Azerbaijan earlier this month, and the young midfielder revealed to us being skippered by his close friend was quite an odd moment.

“He's been so important (in my acclimatisation),” said Lucas on his compatriot. “He's a fantastic person and a fantastic player so I'm really enjoying spending time with him on and off the pitch.

“He can explain some things in Swedish so it's easier to understand and he's a top player so I'm learning a lot from him, he's been here for a few years now so it's great to have him here.

“I also really enjoyed the international break. To have him as captain took some getting used to! But it was fun to have him there.

“Two games, two wins, and I played in both so I was really happy to make my home debut in Stockholm in front of the fans, I’ll remember that forever.”