Luka Vusković

[IfiHadTheWings]

Until he’s 6’4 he’s 6’3!

And that is a FACT

 

[amathews3416]

Ali Gold and football.london at it again , please drop the term "wonderkid" it's used far too often on youngsters.

We do seem to upped our recruitment since Paratici and Gabbanini have been involved at Spurs, see out the ban Fabio and come back full time.

Not such a bad thing Luka not getting here until 2025 , he is likely to get more 1st team experience in Croatia than he is in the PL.

If there was ever a time for the term wonderkid, this guy is it. Starting at 16 for one of the biggest clubs in Croatia, a country that notoriously develops world class players. I would say the chances of this kid succeeding at a high level are pretty darn good .

 

[jurgen11]

I know I shouldn't question why but why did he choose us over the other top clubs? Genuinely what is our unique selling point I wonder?
This does seem quite a coup after all.

Drunk

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

I know I shouldn't question why but why did he choose us over the other top clubs? Genuinely what is our unique selling point I wonder?
This does seem quite a coup after all.

Tottenham fan growing up because of all the Croatians that have come through the club?

 

[CantSmileWithoutYou]

Tottenham fan growing up because of all the Croatians that have come through the club?

Doubt it. He'd of only been about 4

 

[aussiespursguy]

Tottenham fan growing up because of all the Croatians that have come through the club?

We have had some specials.
Luka the obvious. I LOVED Nico though.
And Charlie was a legend.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Like Modric... out of nowhere... Hope he will be as good as Modric

I think the only similarity is their nationality.

Vuskovic is 16 and has only played a handful of senior club matches and a handful of games for Croatia's U16 & U17 teams.

We signed Modric at 22 (6 years older), after he had:
Played three full seasons of senior football, clocking up 95 apps / 32 goals / 21 assists.
Won three league (HNL) titles and two national cups in his first three seasons.
Played for Croatia's senior team 25 times, contributing 5 goals & assists.
Been awarded numerous personal accolades, including "Croatian Player of the Year" & "HNL Player of the Year".
Put in a MOTM performance in Croatia's 3-2 win over England - controlling the midfield against Gerrard / Lampard / Barry (all in their prime) and essentially being responsible for England not qualifying for Euro 2008.
(Modric was then in the team of the tournament at Euro 2008, after we had signed him but before he made his Spurs debut)

So one is a 16-year-old kid who would be joining our youth team / reserves in the first instance, while the other was one of the most exciting players (not just young players) in world football.

 

[robotsonic]

I think the only similarity is their nationality.

Vuskovic is 16 and has only played a handful of senior club matches and a handful of games for Croatia's U16 & U17 teams.

We signed Modric at 22 (6 years older), after he had:
Played three full seasons of senior football, clocking up 95 apps / 32 goals / 21 assists.
Won three league (HNL) titles and two national cups in his first three seasons.
Played for Croatia's senior team 25 times, contributing 5 goals & assists.
Been awarded numerous personal accolades, including "Croatian Player of the Year" & "HNL Player of the Year".
Put in a MOTM performance in Croatia's 3-2 win over England - controlling the midfield against Gerrard / Lampard / Barry (all in their prime) and essentially being responsible for England not qualifying for Euro 2008.
(Modric was then in the team of the tournament at Euro 2008, after we had signed him but before he made his Spurs debut)

So one is a 16-year-old kid who would be joining our youth team / reserves in the first instance, while the other was one of the most exciting players (not just young players) in world football.

Amazing really, when you look how early talented young players are snapped up these days, that Modric played in Croatia until 22 given the above, and then moved to us of all teams.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

We have had some specials.
Luka the obvious. I LOVED Nico though.
And Charlie was a legend.

He probably had their pictures on his wall when he was a kid. Not to mention all of them are involved still with Croatian football. Niko is coach for U19 and Charlie is assistant coach for national team. The Tottenham influence runs deep in Croatia.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Amazing really, when you look how early talented young players are snapped up these days, that Modric played in Croatia until 22 given the above, and then moved to us of all teams.

Having seen how he destroyed England in 2007, I was really excited about the signing and thought the £16.5m(?) we paid was an absolute steal. If it hadn't been for that performance against England, I wouldn't have had a clue who he was though.

What's even more amazing is that Comolli was sacked after signing Modric, Bale & Berbatov.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

It's interesting that we were willing to take such a risk by signing him so early. Between now and 2025, all kinds of things could happen to him. Injury, lack of anticipated progress, etc. His talent must be extreme to have convinced us to sign him under those circumstances.

If we sign five young players for this kind of money, we're then at the same kind of sum that we paid for each of Ndombele, Richarlison & Romero. If 20% of the young signings comes good, that's equivalent to us needing 100% of our big money signings to live up to their transfer fee (but our success rate with big-money signings is well below 50%).

 

[Neon_Knight_]

we beat PSG to sign Foyth too, just saying...

We made a profit on Foyth, just saying...

 

[ButchCassidy]

If there was ever a time for the term wonderkid, this guy is it. Starting at 16 for one of the biggest clubs in Croatia, a country that notoriously develops world class players. I would say the chances of this kid succeeding at a high level are pretty darn good .

 

[Cel]

If we sign five young players for this kind of money, we're then at the same kind of sum that we paid for each of Ndombele, Richarlison & Romero. If 20% of the young signings comes good, that's equivalent to us needing 100% of our big money signings to live up to their transfer fee (but our success rate with big-money signings is well below 50%).

Agreed - the challenge for us as well, is it's harder for us to secure top quality, big money signings without the City's and Liverpool's of the world stepping in. It actually always worries me when we spend over 50m, as I always think why was no-one else in for him. If we can establish ourselves as a club that gives youth that opportunity, might go a little way to bridging that gap as we offer a quicker route to top tier football. Much rather see the higher quality 17/18 year old in Europe get bench minutes, than older, but low potential, squad filler players.

 

[Yid-ol]

Agreed - the challenge for us as well, is it's harder for us to secure top quality, big money signings without the City's and Liverpool's of the world stepping in. It actually always worries me when we spend over 50m, as I always think why was no-one else in for him. If we can establish ourselves as a club that gives youth that opportunity, might go a little way to bridging that gap as we offer a quicker route to top tier football. Much rather see the higher quality 17/18 year old in Europe get bench minutes, than older, but low potential, squad filler players.

Helps when we have a manager that will give youth a chance. Last one we had before now was Poch....and that was in his earlier seasons I think.

 

[Aleks]

Helps when we have a manager that will give youth a chance. Last one we had before now was Poch....and that was in his earlier seasons I think.

yeah poch really stopped with the youth near the end there, so much so that I am so confused by this narrative regarding his appointment at chelsea

 

[Nanky_1988]

We made a profit on Foyth, just saying...

If we’re signing players we shouldn’t be doing it for profit! I don’t want to sell players for profits, ideally they should be players improving our starting 11 eventually and then we keep them until they are no longer good enough and then sold!

 

[robotsonic]

yeah poch really stopped with the youth near the end there, so much so that I am so confused by this narrative regarding his appointment at chelsea

To be fair to Poch, he used youth to fill the roles by the established players early doors that needed ousting and he moulded them to be his team. Once they were the reliable ones was when he turned his eye to already established players to fill the gaps and make a push for a bit more. But sadly he can't spot the right kind of player, is obstinate, and the rest is history.

I can see a thought process from Chelsea if it's to have him sort through the quality young players and mould them into a team to go forward as he did that here, and then embellish that squad in a couple of years, but they lack any established players with 4-5 years in them to see the younger players through it, where we had Jan, Toby, Dembele, Lloris etc, they pretty much have...Raheem Sterling who doesn't really have a history with the club, and one season of an old as fuck Thiago Silva. Their homegrown lot have all been shipped out or are perma-crocked. There's no continuity at all, and on top of that they still don't have a goalscorer (the one hope they had also crocked), or a goalkeeper.

It's a fucking mad project. Amazed if he can pull anything from the fire there as it's truly a big mess, and I, and we all, hope it fails in the massive fireball that it could do if half of these young players don't work out as hoped.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

If we’re signing players we shouldn’t be doing it for profit! I don’t want to sell players for profits, ideally they should be players improving our starting 11 eventually and then we keep them until they are no longer good enough and then sold!

He was signed as a young squad player and did improve the squad. No CB signed while Toby & Jan were in their prime was going to improve our starting XI...we already had two world-class CBs. The fact that Foyth left for a 50% profit evidences that he was far from the flop that people like to make out.

 

[smallsnc]

To be fair to Poch, he used youth to fill the roles by the established players early doors that needed ousting and he moulded them to be his team. Once they were the reliable ones was when he turned his eye to already established players to fill the gaps and make a push for a bit more. But sadly he can't spot the right kind of player, is obstinate, and the rest is history.

I can see a thought process from Chelsea if it's to have him sort through the quality young players and mould them into a team to go forward as he did that here, and then embellish that squad in a couple of years, but they lack any established players with 4-5 years in them to see the younger players through it, where we had Jan, Toby, Dembele, Lloris etc, they pretty much have...Raheem Sterling who doesn't really have a history with the club, and one season of an old as fuck Thiago Silva. Their homegrown lot have all been shipped out or are perma-crocked. There's no continuity at all, and on top of that they still don't have a goalscorer (the one hope they had also crocked), or a goalkeeper.

It's a fucking mad project. Amazed if he can pull anything from the fire there as it's truly a big mess, and I, and we all, hope it fails in the massive fireball that it could do if half of these young players don't work out as hoped.

What I think Poch, for some reason, failed to recognize was that the physical demands on players in his system required that we continue to replenish the side with young talent and not proven veterans. I hope we do not fall into that trap in the future. The time to bring in older/proven players is when you just have youth and need the experience. Thinking he could get another year out of that team without really refreshing may have been OK short term but it kills you long term.