European football expert Andy Brassell has sent a warning to Tottenham Hotspur and Roberto De Zerbi regarding Luka Vuskovic.
Vuskovic’s outstanding loan spell at Hamburg ended on Saturday with a 1-1 draw away at Bayer Leverkusen, and the centre-back will now look forward to a huge summer.
The Tottenham teenager has been named in Croatia’s World Cup squad, and he will have a chance to shine on football’s biggest stage in North America.
According to reports, Spurs are planning for Vuskovic to have a key first-team role next season, and one expert believes that the 19-year-old is more than ready.
Journalist reveals why Roberto De Zerbi may have spoken to Luka Vuskovic about Tottenham future
Vuskovic has previously spoken about returning to Hamburg next season, but Andy Brassell shared that the centre-back had admitted that a return to HSV is unlikely following the club’s final game of the season.
The journalist suggested that the centre-back may have changed his tune after De Zerbi spoke to the youngster about his role at Spurs next season.
Brassel told talkSPORT about Tottenham and Luka Vuskovic: “He’s been the difference between Hamburg staying up and going down. A teenager to have the leadership qualities he has, as well as the positional sense, the strength, the sangfroid, it’s quite remarkable. When you look at Tottenham next season, it feels to me that when they have a bit of a rethink, I think they’re more likely to include Vuskovic in the team than use him as collateral.
“He would be a great part of a Tottenham refresh. For them to have more leaders is a great thing, and he’s definitely one of those. But the way he was talking after that game [against Freiburg] was really interesting, he said, ‘It’s 99 per cent my last game here.’ So, of course, there’s a little bit of him that would love to go back there and play with [his older brother] Mario and have a very good ending at Hamburg, but I think he’s realised that he’s kind of outgrown the club.
“He knows that other Bundesliga clubs and other big Bundesliga clubs would be interested, like Bayern and [Borussia] Dortmund and not limited to Germany. He’s realised that in the real world it’s just not possible for him to stay at Hamburg. He’s just too good to stay there. He does have this contract with Spurs, and he’s got an opportunity to really do something with them.
“I wonder if his changing his tone is A getting to the end of the season or B whether De Zerbi has had a word with him already, or someone has had a word on De Zerbi’s behalf. That would not surprise me at all, someone who’s a great defender but is confident on the ball as well. I think he would be a massive, massive plus for Spurs next season.”
De Zerbi urged to sell other centre-backs over Vuskovic
Some of the biggest clubs in Europe are circling over the Tottenham youngster ahead of the summer transfer window, with the Lilywhites potentially facing a fight to hold onto the Croat.
Brassel believes Tottenham should sell one of their senior centre-backs and make Vuskovic a cornerstone of their project for the best part of the next decade.
When asked about the speculation over the 19-year-old’s future, the journalist responded: “If you’re looking to make collateral, sell someone else because he’s got a terrific future ahead of him, and injury notwithstanding, you bring Vuskovic back, play him, and the sky’s the limit.
“You’d be able to sell him for more in 2-3 years time if you wanted to.”Ideally, I suppose he becomes a cornerstone for Spurs over the next 6-8 years, but I think you have to be realistic and say he’s got a market value as well. Clearly, there’s going to be a bit of a rebuild there, but there’s definitely other players I’d rather sell than him.”