Tottenham Hotspur have received a transfer boost as Bayern Munich distance themselves from a move for Luka Vuskovic.
The 18-year-old defender is currently on loan at Hamburg from Spurs and has been linked with a move to FC Bayern.
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The Bundesliga giants were close to signing the Croatian centre-back before he moved to Tottenham.
He was actually offered to Bayern in 2023, but they decided against the move.
Instead, Spurs signed him later that year and he is now out on loan.
Vuskovic has become an important part of the Hamburg team.
The Croatian was named January’s Rookie of the Month and is statistically very impressive.
In the entire Bundesliga, Vuskovic is second in defensive actions, second in aerial duels and fourth in blocks.
He is proving to be an outstanding defender and Bayern’s sporting director Max Eberl praised Vuskovic in Germany, but also indicated that they would not be moving him any time soon.
He said: “First we have to resolve our ‘internal transfers’. [extensions]. When that’s done, we’ll have a quality defense.
“That doesn’t mean that Vuskovic isn’t a good player. He’s 18, is playing an outstanding season at HSV, he belongs at Tottenham.”
“But FC Bayern also has very high-quality central defenders in Jonathan Tah, [Dayot] Upamecano, [Kim] Min-jae – and so have we [Hiroki] Itō and [Josip] Stanisic, who can play there.
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“So we can’t just sign every good player that people say we should sign. He’s a very good player, there’s no doubt about that.”
“But as I said, first we have to clarify the internal transfers.”
Vuskovic: The future
Vuskovic cost Spurs £12m but he is proving he is worth it and looks set to have a place in Spurs’ defense in the future.
Micky van de Ven has been linked with Liverpool while Cristian Romero continues to denounce the Tottenham board, so it’s fair to say their future isn’t guaranteed.
This would give Vuskovic the opportunity to come back and start for Tottenham.
And European football expert Andy Brassell believes Vuskovic is better than Liverpool’s new signing Jeremy Jacquet and that Spurs need to be careful.
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Speaking exclusively to The Pitch Prospect.com, he said: “Vuskovic is better looking than Jacquet, I can honestly say that. Everything about him is so incredibly convincing.”
“Tottenham has an option, I assume of course there will be people who say, ‘Well, they already have that.’ [Pedro] Porro and [Destiny] Udogie to bring Vuskovic back and Vuskovic, Romero, [Micky] Van der Ven.’
“A lot of it depends on where Tottenham are at the end of the season, whether Thomas Frank is still there and whether they have managed to qualify for Europe again.”
“There are so many question marks about where Tottenham are at the moment sportingly, but they have options with Vuskovic.”
“Obviously every Spurs fan who watches him from afar thinks, ‘We want this guy on our team’, not just because he’s already very successful but I think because of those leadership qualities.”
“And it’s something that Tottenham sometimes lack.”
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“I guess the options are: A, incorporate him into a threesome, B, sell Romero while you can still get elite value for him.”