Mladen Petric believes Tottenham defender Luka Vuskovic could become Croatia’s next superstar
Tottenham Hotspur made some critical decisions throughout the summer transfer window.
From bringing in fresh faces, offloading the deadwood to loaning out players, new boss Thomas Frank certainly had his say. There were several young talents who headed to north London after impressing on respective loan spells. One of those was Luka Vuskovic.
Luka Vuskovic officially joined Spurs on July 1, two years on from when club paid £13m to sign him from Hajduk Split. He has spent the past two seasons out on loan and enjoyed a successful spell with Belgian club KVC Westerlo during the 2024/25 campaign.
The pre-season gave Thomas Frank the chance to evaluate the teenager, and while he caught the eye with some impressive displays, the Tottenham boss along with the key decision-makers of the club decided to loan him out. Vuskovic joined Bundesliga club HSV Hamburger on a season-long loan in August with the aim of getting regular game time and continuing his development.
Former Croatia striker compares Luka Vuskovic to young Josko Gvardiol
Vuskovic is likely to make his debut for HSV Hamburger against Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Sunday. Former Croatian striker Mladen Petric has high hopes for the Tottenham loanee. He feels the defender could become Croatia’s “next superstar” and follow in the path of Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol. Here is what Mladen Petric told BILD (h/t Sport Witness).
“Luka is a pretty hot prospect, one of the top talents in Croatia.”
“He reminds me of the young Josko Gvardiol, who now plays for Manchester City. Vuskovic could become the next superstar in our country.
“I’m curious to see how quickly Luka settles into his role as defensive leader at HSV, leading the team from the back. That could take a while. He’s definitely an asset to my former team. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for him and the team.”
Tottenham have a sublime talent on their hands
Josko Gvardiol is a highly-regarded defender in Europe and has already achieved so many things at such a young career. Manchester City spent a lot of money to sign him from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023 and the versatile defender has impressed in the Premier League. So, Vuskovic being compared to a young Gvardiol by Petric is a big compliment.
Indeed, Vuskovic is a sublime talent with huge potential to unlock. Spurs did well to secure his signature as a 16-year-old from Hajduk Split in 2023, but how they plan his development and integration in the first-team squad will be extremely important. If he quickly develops as anticipated, we can very well see Vuskovic and Gvardiol form a strong potential centre-back pairing for Croatia in the upcoming years.
