Earlier this month we told you about news that Tottenham Hotspur were intending to sign a 16 year old Croatian defender who was highly rated and wanted by several top European clubs. Today, the club announced an agreement to sign Luka Vuskovic from Hajduk Split, but not until 2025 when he turns 18.
We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement for Luka Vuskovic to join the Club in 2025 from Hajduk Split
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 25, 2023
Vuskovic made his professional first team debut with with Hajduk Split this past February. The Croatian League is the Croatian League, but playing ANY first team football at age 16 is an accomplishment and this kid is apparently the real deal. In their official statement on the signing, Spurs note that he has 11 first team caps for Split and was a key player in the U18s’ run to the UEFA Youth Cup final last spring.
But he’s not coming until 2025, and then likely straight into the U23s for a while. That’s fine. As thin as Spurs are in defense I can’t ever imagine any manager throwing a 16 year old into the fire in the Premier League. The best thing for him right now is to get as much first team football as he can get in his native Croatia, and then work his way through at Spurs.
This signing is the latest attempt by Spurs to beef up the U23s and fringes of the first team with talented youngsters that have very high ceilings. The idea of signing a kid like Vuskovic isn’t to improve the squad now, but to hopefully develop the next great Tottenham team that will come after players like Cuti Romero and Ben Davies start to age out of the side.
He’s pretty good right now, but as I say ad nauseum on this blog, youth development is a crap shoot. Maybe he’s going to be first team material. Maybe he “merely” becomes a capable professional once he settles into his body. Either way, these are the kinds of young, exciting signings Spurs need to continue to target, because if they don’t, another club surely will. FOMO? Let the other guys have that.
