Tottenham are moving rapidly to secure Luka Vuskovic‘s long-term future on significantly improved terms, with sporting director Johan Lange having already travelled to Hamburg for face-to-face talks with the 19-year-old, according to multiple reports including Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg.
The urgency reflects the scale of interest now converging on the Croatian centre-back, with Barcelona making fresh direct contact through his agent Pini Zahavi, who also represents Hansi Flick and Robert Lewandowski.
Vuskovic has been one of the outstanding defensive performers in the Bundesliga this season, making 26 appearances for Hamburg and scoring five goals, a remarkable return for a centre-back who is still only a teenager. Germany legend Lothar Matthaus was moved to say after watching him score against Bayern Munich in January that at 18, he plays as if he had “already experienced three World Cups.” The assessment matched what those who had tracked Vuskovic’s development since his days at Hajduk Split had long been saying about his ceiling.
Tottenham signed Vuskovic from Hajduk Split for £12 million in a deal agreed in 2023, with Brexit rules delaying his arrival until July 2025. He joined the club and was immediately sent to Hamburg on a season-long loan to develop. He has not played a single competitive minute for Spurs yet, but his market value has already rocketed to a point where Plettenberg describes him as “one of the top clubs’ main targets.” The new contract Tottenham are proposing would elevate him to one of the club’s top earners, a significant statement of intent given he is yet to pull on the white shirt in a meaningful game.
Barcelona’s interest brings complications. Zahavi’s dual role representing both Barcelona’s manager and their target simultaneously creates an unusual dynamic in the negotiations. Sky Deutschland report Barcelona remains keen despite also holding interest in Alessandro Bastoni, with Vuskovic viewed as a longer-term defensive building block rather than an immediate first-team starter under Flick. The question of whether Vuskovic would be prepared to wait for regular minutes at Camp Nou, after a season of genuine Bundesliga starts, may prove the decisive factor.
For Tottenham, survival in the Premier League is still not fully secured with three games remaining, and Vuskovic himself has hinted at the obvious truth: if Spurs are relegated, the situation changes entirely. His contract runs until 2030, meaning Tottenham hold significant leverage, but the player’s own ambitions are a variable that money alone cannot fully control.