England and captain Harry Kane could face a “generational player” in Croatia centre-back Luka Vuskovic in Wednesday’s World Cup opener in Dallas.
Highly-rated Vuskovic could start the Group L fixture after a breakthrough season in the Bundesliga with Hamburg and amid speculation over his long-term future at Tottenham.
Vuskovic is yet to make a competitive appearance for Spurs, but the north London club spent £12m in 2023 to secure the services of the teenage defender and he has emerged as one of the hottest prospects in Europe across recent loans.
A £30m bid by Brighton for the goalscoring centre-back was rejected by Tottenham last weekend, the Press Association understands, but it could be the start of numerous advances for the 19-year-old.
Football development coach Harry Brooks has worked with past and present Tottenham players and predicted Vuskovic could one day be purchased for more than Harry Maguire’s record fee of £80m for a centre-back.
“That could be a centre-back there that could be worth £80m plus,” Brooks told PA.
“You’ve got a player here that is potentially a generational player. It’s not common doing what he is doing.”
Split-born Vuskovic only officially joined Tottenham last summer due to Brexit rules, but arrived in north London fresh from a successful loan at Westerlo in Belgium and marked his first outing with a goal in a pre-season friendly at Reading.
It was still decided a loan away was best and an August switch to Hamburg proved a masterstroke.
Vuskovic was named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season, won the league’s Goal of the Year and was named Rookie of the Month on four occasions.
He scored six goals in 30 appearances in Germany, but with no clear pathway at Tottenham, the world’s best clubs have started to circle the Croatian.
It resulted in Friday’s surprise bid by Brighton and an eventful summer is anticipated for Vuskovic, but his main focus will be Wednesday’s opener with England and stopping Kane – the last generational talent from Spurs.
Brooks, who trains Premier League players with his bespoke football development programme RH10, warned England to be wary of Vuskovic’s magnet-like qualities from set-pieces.
“I have a player in Bundesliga I worked with that came up against him last season and he said that he couldn’t believe how good he was,” Brooks said.
“Plays the game on his terms. The best players can just figure it out and they are not players who need to fit into certain systems, they find solutions.
“Incredibly dominant as a defender, reads the game really well, outstanding in the air, naturally comfortable using both feet.
“He just has that instinct and is a magnet in terms of the ball coming to him in both boxes and that is something you don’t see too often.
“That is like Sergio Ramos or Pepe where the ball tends to arrive at these players in areas where they can really impact the game defensively and attacking-wise.
“It’s not luck, it is having that instinct, that aura and influence.”
PA
