Croatian wonderkid Luka Vuskovic’s first words after joining Tottenham in club record transfer
The 18-year-old has signed a new contract with the north London outfit and has been talking about his move to the Premier League.
Spurs have completed a £12m deal for Croatian teenage starlet Luka Vukojevic, who said he was “honoured” to join the Premier League giants.
Vukojevci has been on the radar of a number of top European clubs, including champions Manchester City, runners-up Liverpool, former champions Chelsea and French giants Paris Saint-Germain.
According to reports, City made an offer of £10m, plus £2m in bonuses, but was rebuffed.
Now Spurs have sealed a £12m transfer for Vukojevci, who has been described by Hajduk as “the biggest outgoing transfer” in their history.
Hajduk claim that the deal has made Vukojevich the most expensive teenage defender in European football history.
Due to FIFA regulations, Vuskovic can only move to England at the age of 18 in 2025 and has signed a contract with the Football Association that will last until 2030. It is understood that Vuskovic has returned to his former club.
Vuskovic is regarded as one of the best young players of his generation and is considered to be the next generation of Croatian footballers.
He has already made 11 first-team appearances for the club despite his young age.
He made his professional debut two days after he turned 16 in February this year, becoming the youngest player to play in the Croatian top-flight.
The following month he scored his first goal in the cup quarter-final, making him the youngest goalscorer in the club’s history.
“First of all, I want to thank Hajduk for making this possible for me, the coaches who contributed to my development, the people from the academy, all the employees of the club,” Vuskovic said in a Hajduk interview after his move was confirmed.
“In the past months, I was aware of the interest of big clubs from abroad, and I tried to stay on the ground, train and prepare for new challenges.
“It is a great honour to see that a club like Tottenham has shown such a desire and put in so much effort to bring in a player of my age. This makes me proud, and it is certainly a motive for me to work even harder on my development and further progress in order to be as ready as possible for the moment when I will play for their first team.”
Vuskovic later added on his Instagram page: “It is a great honour and privilege to be part of this great club. I will work and train hard to play for Tottenham one day.”
