Luka Vuskovic is done waiting. The 19-year-old Tottenham defender is prepared to submit a formal transfer request after Brighton slapped down a third bid worth around £45 million, according to Standard Sport. Vuskovic wants out, and he wants out now — with playing time the sticking point.
Brighton has been circling for a while. They put in two earlier offers that Spurs knocked back. This third one, sources say, is in the ballpark of what it’ll take to get a deal done. And Vuskovic? He’s reportedly willing to force the issue if Tottenham doesn’t budge.
The kid just wants to play. He spent last season on loan at Hamburg in the Bundesliga, where he looked like a grown man playing against boys. Started every game he was healthy for. Scored a few. Made a mess of opposing attacks. The kind of season that gets Bayern Munich and Barcelona sniffing around — and both of those clubs have been linked at various points.
But Brighton is the one with cash on the table right now. And Roberto De Zerbi, for all his success, couldn’t promise Vuskovic the minutes he’s after at Spurs. That’s partly because Tottenham just went on a spending spree for center-backs. They brought in Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke — and yeah, Van Hecke came from Brighton, which makes this whole thing a little weird. They also grabbed Andy Robertson to shore up a backline that leaked 57 goals last season. That’s a lot of bodies in front of Vuskovic.
World Cup as a Shop Window
Right now Vuskovic is at the World Cup with Croatia. He started their opener against England, which didn’t go great — 4-2 loss. But he held his own for stretches. Next up is Panama, and you can bet scouts from a dozen clubs will have their eyes on him.
He pretty much admitted the quiet part out loud when asked about his future this week.
“For now I’m focused only on the World Cup,” Vuskovic said. “My goal next season is to play for a club that wants me and where I will play. We’ll see what happens in the coming days and weeks.”
That’s not exactly a guy begging to stay in north London.
If Spurs let him go, it’ll be a $45 million swing. Not bad for a 19-year-old who hasn’t played a single competitive minute for the club’s first team. But you can see why De Zerbi might hesitate — Senesi and Van Hecke are established, Robertson is a proven leader, and Vuskovic is still a teenager with a ton of raw talent that needs refinement. Then again, the kid has already shown he can handle grown-man soccer in Germany. And the transfer market doesn’t punish potential. It rewards it.
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