Tottenham's Luka Vuskovic Dilemma: Future Star or Cash In?

Tottenham are backing Roberto De Zerbi with money and power. That much is clear. What’s far less clear is what happens next to Luka Vuskovic.

The 19-year-old centre-back, outstanding on loan at Hamburg and widely regarded inside Spurs as a potential world-class defender, wants what every top prospect eventually demands: a starting shirt, every week, at a serious level. He does not want another loan. He does not want to wait in line.

Right now, that line at Spurs is getting longer by the day.

Vuskovic stuck between ambition and a crowded depth chart

Brighton have already tested Tottenham’s resolve twice for Vuskovic. Their latest offer, £35m, was turned down. For a teenager who has yet to start a Premier League game, that number alone tells you how highly the market rates him.

It still wasn’t enough.

The problem for Spurs is brutally simple. By the time the window closes, Vuskovic could be their fifth-choice centre-back.

Marcos Senesi is through the door. Jan Paul van Hecke is on his way for £52m. If Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero both stay, De Zerbi will have four established centre-halves ahead of the Croatian. For a player who has just proved himself on loan in the Bundesliga, that looks like a dead end.

Inside the club, there is genuine conviction that Vuskovic can grow into one of the best defenders in the world. The feeling is that he just isn’t ready to be a Premier League regular yet. That belief has shaped their stance: Tottenham are prepared to offer him minutes, but only via another loan.

Vuskovic doesn’t want that. Brighton, by contrast, can hand him a starting role now – but they refuse to go to what they view as an inflated price. So the stand-off drags on.

It is a situation with a familiar echo across north London. Arsenal took William Saliba through three separate loans in Ligue 1 before finally handing him the keys to their defence. Only then did he explode into one of the league’s elite centre-backs. Spurs see a similar pathway for Vuskovic. The player, and his suitors, see a shorter one.

Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic has been clear: Vuskovic must play regularly. Tottenham agree with the principle. They just don’t want that regular football to be somewhere else on a permanent basis.

So the teenager waits, Brighton pause, and a £35m question hangs over Spurs’ summer.

Van Hecke: De Zerbi gets “his” defender

If there was any doubt about who is calling the shots on Tottenham’s rebuild, the Van Hecke deal answers it.

Spurs have agreed to pay around £52m for the Netherlands international, a huge profit for Brighton on a player they signed for £1.8m from NAC Breda in 2020. The Seagulls have secured a 20 per cent sell-on clause, a tidy insurance policy if his value climbs again.

Van Hecke only wanted Tottenham. More specifically, he wanted De Zerbi.

The 26-year-old played 50 games under the Italian at Brighton between 2023 and 2024 and has spoken of De Zerbi as a “father figure”. That bond has now shaped a major transfer. With just a year left on his Brighton contract, this is a decisive move for his prime years and a clear endorsement of the manager he trusts most.

Inside Spurs, this is being seen as a statement signing and a reward for De Zerbi’s work in keeping the club in the Premier League. He has been handed full control and the final say on transfers. Van Hecke is, bluntly, the defender he asked for.

On the pitch, Tottenham are getting a centre-back who is extremely comfortable on the ball, very much in the same mould as Senesi. Both excel at taking opponents out of the game with their passing, stepping through pressure and firing the ball through the lines instead of just clearing their lines.

It comes at a big price. Spurs clearly believe it’s worth paying.

De Zerbi’s blueprint: build from the back, literally

Look at the profile of Senesi and Van Hecke and the picture sharpens. De Zerbi is rebuilding Tottenham’s defence around ball progression.

Last season, those two were the top players in the Premier League for bypassing defenders with their passing. They don’t just survive pressure. They use it. They draw teams in, then punch the ball into midfield and beyond, turning defensive phases into attacking platforms.

Senesi did it in a very direct, vertical Bournemouth side under Andoni Iraola, where he regularly drove the ball through the thirds at speed. Van Hecke learned the nuances of De Zerbi’s more intricate, risk-heavy build-up at Brighton, a style Fabian Hurzeler has openly referenced as the foundation for his own approach.

The numbers underline why Spurs are moving this way. In terms of pure passing and progression, Senesi and Van Hecke sit a level above Romero and Van de Ven. De Zerbi wants his centre-backs to be playmakers as much as stoppers. Tottenham clearly feel they have been short in that area.

So they are fixing it at source.

What now for Romero, Van de Ven – and Vuskovic?

All of this inevitably throws the spotlight on the existing centre-backs.

Romero remains a fascinating case. At his best, he looks like one of the finest defenders in the world. The problem is that “at his best” has been available only about half the time, between injuries and suspensions. Even the end of last season carried noise around whether he would attend the final game.

If a major offer lands on Tottenham’s desk, they will look at it. The key is size. Only a truly big bid would force their hand.

Van de Ven, younger and less volatile, has been a core part of their plans. Yet the arrival of two high-level ball-players naturally raises questions about roles, rotations and status. Somebody, somewhere, is going to lose minutes.

And then there is Vuskovic, the most delicate piece on the board.

Spurs want to keep him, but only on their terms. Brighton want to play him, but only at their price. Dalic wants him on the pitch every week. De Zerbi wants centre-backs who can run his system immediately.

Tottenham plan to spend big this summer and that means sales are coming. Ideally, they would raise money from players who sit outside De Zerbi’s long-term vision, not from a teenager they believe could anchor their defence for a decade.

But ideal summers rarely exist in football. At some point, someone will blink.

Will it be Brighton, edging their offer up? Spurs, deciding £35m for a fifth-choice centre-back is too much to refuse? Or Vuskovic himself, accepting another loan in the hope that his Saliba moment eventually arrives in north London?

For a club trying to build a new identity from the back, the answer to that question could define far more than one defender’s future.