Erik Edman | A view from Sweden on Lucas and Deki

Erik Edman was the first Swedish player to pull on a Spurs shirt - and he can’t speak highly enough of the two compatriots following in his footsteps.

Famed for his 40-yard rocket into the top corner of the Kop at Anfield - incidentally, almost 20 years ago – Erik made 34 appearances for us in his sole season in N17 in 2004/05, a season he cherishes in a career spanning 16 years that took him to Italy, Germany, Holland and France.

Playing alongside Swedish greats like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson and Freddie Ljungberg, Erik was capped 57 times by Blågult, and was selected for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and Euro 2004.

Now 46, Erik is coaching at Hittarps, an amateur team, scouting for his former club Helsingborgs and working as a pundit on Swedish TV - and, like all Spurs fans in Sweden, he’s keeping a close eye on the progress of Lucas and Deki...

Erik on Lucas

Joining us from Swedish Allsvenskan side Djurgarden in July, still only 19, midfielder Lucas has made 38 appearances in all competitions this season...

Erik “If I look back 30 years, there is one player who has gone from the Swedish league straight into the Premier League and made an impact, and that’s Freddie Ljungberg. Normally speaking, every Swedish player needs to take another step, maybe going to the Championship, maybe another league in another country, to get used to the bigger stage, a higher tempo, all those types of things, but Lucas has adapted phenomenally well. I thought he might even need to go on loan for a period to adapt to the English game, but he’s taken his opportunity. He’s growing physically and he loves the physical side of the game. Lucas reminds me a little of a young Michael Carrick, who I played with that season at Spurs in 2004/05. What a player, played off both feet, never lost the ball, always evaded pressure. Lucas is an intelligent footballer. He’s adapted from Sweden to the Premier League, absorbed all the information, and that’s the sign of a talented player, technically and mentally. In Sweden, we’ve been looking for a top-class midfielder. We’ve had great strikers like Zlatan (Ibrahimovic), Henrik (Larsson), those guys, now we have Kulusevski, Isak, Gyökeres, but we’ve been lacking a top-class, holding midfielder. I don’t know if fans will remember a midfielder called Jonas Thern, he had some really great years at Benfica, Napoli, Roma, that calibre of player. Maybe, in a year or two, he could be at that level. It will be interesting when Spurs play Eintracht Frankfurt – they have a player called Hugo Larsson, another young Swedish player, two years older than Lucas, they are probably fighting for the same spot in the Swedish national team at the moment (Larsson withdrew from the latest squad for the friendlies against Luxemboug and Northern Ireland in this international break). It will be interesting to see how that develops, but I have to say, Lucas looks the real deal.”

Erik on Deki

Deki has been a revelation since us from Juventus in January, 2022, Sweden’s Guldbollen winner in 2022 and 2023, he’s up to 10 goals in all competitions this season...

Erik: “Deki moved abroad early in his career, learned a lot and came into an environment at Spurs at the right time. The creativity he has... he’s been exceptional. For me, the Player of the Year. I always got the impression that he’s so mentally strong, believes in his own ability. That was also the case for Ljungberg, I played with him in the national team, and would be playing Spain, for instance, and he would say, ‘we’re just going to go out there and play’, with that calmness, that aura around him, as if to say, ‘I’m going to take care of this’. I like the way Deki speaks. That shows a maturity for a player who is not so young now, but at 24, he’s not old either! He’s been in and around the national team for a long time. He takes responsibility and, importantly, he wants that responsibility, because he believes in his own ability. He’s captain after Victor Lindelof and, for me, that’s spot on as well, give him that responsibility as he has the respect in the team for both the way he plays, and the way he is as a person.”