Tottenham Hotspur are poised to snap up Hajduk Split defender Luka Vuskovic, a player hailed by Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol.
Luka Vuskovic is set to follow in Josko Gvardiol’s footsteps by making a move to the Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur will be Vuskovic’s next destination having broken into the Hajduk Split side at just 16.
The 6ft 4in wonderkid has decided to join Tottenham according to Fabrizio Romano, with a deal expected to go through soon.
Vuskovic can’t actually play for Tottenham until 2025 due to post-Brexit rules, but the excitement is already building.
Luka Vuskovic has been praised by Josko Gvardiol
Croatia seem to have another top young defender coming through with Vuskovic following on from Josko Gvardiol.
Gvardiol emerged with Dinamo Zagreb whereas Vuskovic is already playing first-team football for rivals Hajduk Split at 16.
RB Leipzig pounced to sign Gvardiol before allowing him to keep developing at Dinamo, so it’s a similar scenario here with Vuskovic.
Now with Manchester City, Gvardiol has become a star and has liked what he has seen from Hajduk ace Vuskovic.
Speaking to Index back in March, Gvardiol admitted that he has seen Vuskovic and has been impressed with his talent.
Gvardiol noted that Vuskovic doesn’t even need his advice because he has everything to become one of the best defenders in the world.
“I saw him, I’m glad he’s developing like that. I hope he’ll develop into a top stopper, he has everything to become one of the best,” said Gvardiol. “It’s up to him to work. He has a brother who has done great things. He doesn’t need much advice from me, he knows everything. I would love to play together one day,” he added.
Tottenham missed out on Gvardiol
Tottenham moving for Vuskovic right now may be in some way motivated by Gvardiol’s rise.
Spurs had been linked with signing Gvardiol on multiple occasions; Tuttomercatoweb even suggested in 2022 that Spurs were trying to use wide man Ivan Perisic to convince Gvardiol to join during the World Cup.
That didn’t happen and Gvardiol ended up moving on for a fee well beyond what Tottenham could realistically pay; a staggering £78million.
Gvardiol was out of Tottenham’s range almost as soon as he started playing for RB Leipzig; they had simply missed the boat from his Dinamo days.
Spurs missed out on Gvardiol but have now decided to pay up for Vuskovic, even though he can’t play for the club until 2025.
This is a major investment from Spurs, who may feel that paying around £13million to take the chance now is better than seeing him quickly move out of their range at £78million like Gvardiol.
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