Tottenham’s Vuskovic Dilemma in De Zerbi’s Defensive Revolution

Tottenham are backing Roberto De Zerbi with money and power. The problem is that one of their brightest young defenders wants something they can’t give him.

Luka Vuskovic, 19, has just come off a standout loan spell at Hamburg, where he built a reputation as one of Europe’s most exciting young centre-backs. He wants the next step now: to start, to stay, to belong. No more loans. No more halfway houses.

Spurs can’t promise that. Brighton can. And that’s where this starts to get messy.

A £35m bid turned away – and a teenager stuck in the middle

Brighton have already tested Tottenham’s resolve twice. Their latest bid, £35m, was turned down. For a teenager with one major loan on his CV, that is serious money. Brighton, though, have walked away for now. There are no immediate plans to go back in.

That stance comes even as they cash in on Jan Paul van Hecke, having agreed a £52m deal to sell the Dutchman to Spurs. The numbers underline the scale of Tottenham’s commitment to De Zerbi. The footballing logic underlines the scale of Vuskovic’s problem.

With Van Hecke on his way and Marcos Senesi already through the door, the pathway for Vuskovic narrows sharply. If Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero both stay, the Croatian slides down to fifth in the pecking order. Fifth-choice centre-back. For a 19-year-old who just proved he can handle senior football, that’s a dead end.

Inside Spurs, there is a firm belief that Vuskovic can become one of the best defenders in the world. Not just good. Elite. But they don’t think he’s ready to start every week in the Premier League. Not yet. Not in a team De Zerbi wants to reshape around the ball.

That gap between potential and present is exactly where the tension lives.

A Saliba-style path – but no appetite for another loan

The situation mirrors what Arsenal went through with William Saliba. The Frenchman spent three separate loans in Ligue 1 before finally being trusted at the Emirates, then exploded into one of the Premier League’s outstanding defenders.

Spurs can see the same kind of arc for Vuskovic. Multiple loans, gradual growth, then a starring role. On paper, it’s sensible squad-building.

The player sees it differently. He wants to play now, in one place, with a long-term role. Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic has publicly stressed how important it is that Vuskovic finds a club where he will play regularly. Spurs agree with the principle, but their solution is another loan. Vuskovic is not interested.

Brighton, by contrast, can give him exactly what he wants: a realistic chance to start in the Premier League, in a system that develops ball-playing defenders. They just won’t go to Tottenham’s valuation. That stand-off could drag on for weeks.

In an ideal world, Spurs would raise money elsewhere, off players who are clearly not part of De Zerbi’s plans. The market rarely offers an ideal world. Big offers tend to arrive for the players you’d rather keep.

Van Hecke: De Zerbi’s man, De Zerbi’s message

The Van Hecke deal cuts through any doubt about who is shaping this Tottenham rebuild. Around £52m for a defender with one year left on his Brighton contract is not a cautious move. It’s a statement.

Van Hecke only wanted Spurs. The Netherlands international has already thrived under De Zerbi once, playing 50 games for him at Brighton between 2023 and 2024. He knows the demands, the risks, the constant insistence on building from the back under pressure.

Brighton, who signed him from NAC Breda for just £1.8m in 2020, will bank a huge profit and have secured a 20 per cent sell-on clause. For them, it’s smart business. For Spurs, it’s a calculated overpay for a defender tailored to their new manager’s football.

This is the club handing De Zerbi the keys. He kept them up. Now he gets his players, his profile, his style. Van Hecke is the defender he asked for. Spurs have gone and got him.

The plan: build from the back, relentlessly

Look at the profile of the signings and the picture is obvious. Marcos Senesi on a free. Van Hecke for big money. Both rank among the Premier League’s best at progressing the ball from the first phase of play. Last season, they were the top two in the league for bypassing defenders with passes.

They don’t just defend space. They erase opposition lines.

Senesi learned a direct, vertical style under Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth, punching passes through the thirds with aggression. Van Hecke is steeped in De Zerbi’s positional play, happy to receive in risky areas, wait, invite pressure, then split the press with one pass.

Fabian Hurzeler, who followed De Zerbi at Brighton, even admitted that his own build-up work leaned on what the Italian had already put in place. The defenders there are trained to live with the ball at their feet, even when the stadium holds its breath.

Spurs clearly felt they lacked that. The data backs it up. In terms of pure passing ability and line-breaking, Senesi and Van Hecke sit a level above Romero and Van de Ven.

De Zerbi wants his centre-backs to start attacks, not just survive them. Tottenham are rebuilding their defensive core with that in mind.

Romero, Van de Ven… and the odd man out

Which leads straight to the uncomfortable question: where does this leave the existing centre-halves?

Cristian Romero, on talent, is one of the best defenders in the world. On availability, he is a headache. Injuries and suspensions mean he’s on the pitch about half the time. Even at the end of last season, there was speculation about whether he would be in the stands to watch his team in the final game.

Inside the club, there’s a clear sense: if a big offer lands for Romero, they will have to think about it. The size of that offer is the key. Letting a defender of his calibre leave for anything less than elite money would be a major call. Keeping him and watching him miss chunks of another season would be a different kind of risk.

Van de Ven, rapid and aggressive, offers a different profile again. His pace covers a multitude of sins, but on the ball he does not yet match the level of Senesi or Van Hecke. In a De Zerbi system, that matters.

Now add Vuskovic into that mix. A 19-year-old with huge upside, blocked by four senior centre-backs, at a club that can only offer him another loan. Brighton sit on the other side of the table, armed with a clear role and a clear pathway, but unwilling to pay what Spurs want.

Tottenham are planning a big summer. They want Sandro Tonali from Newcastle. They remain keen on Savinho at Manchester City. Major changes are coming, with De Zerbi at the centre of it all.

Somewhere in that whirlwind, they need to decide: is Luka Vuskovic a cornerstone of their future, worth turning down serious money and accepting short-term frustration? Or is he the sacrifice that funds the next phase of De Zerbi’s revolution?