Although the transfer vibes around Tottenham Hotspur should be entirely positive right now with Roberto De Zerbi getting three established Premier League players in Marcos Senesi, Andrew Robertson, and his personal pick Jan Paul van Hecke with midfielders Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes potentially on the way as blockbuster additions, much of the conversation has shifted towards a high profile sale.
Micky van de Ven is likely to stay despite continued rumblings from Barcelona and Liverpool, and nobody is really scared of losing Cristian Romero at this stage, especially after Spurs signed Van Hecke and Senesi.
But after signing Van Hecke, 19 year old center back Luka Vuskovic is throwing a tantrum about his future. Brighton initially lowballed Tottenham with a 30 million pound offer for Vuskovic when Spurs first approached them for Van Hecke, and while they were able to hold off, the Seagulls are back again with a 45 million pound transfer offer.
Tottenham may have to grant the request
While Tottenham will probably reject that and hold out for 60 million pounds, Vuskovic continues to use his reps in the media to bang the drum that he either wants to start immediately for Tottenham Hotspur or be transferred permanently. Whereas he was telling people just a couple of months ago that he actually wanted another year on loan to play with his brother in Hamburg, he is now saying the exact opposite with no particular reason in mind - clearly an agent driven ploy, then.
According to a report from Sam Tabuteau of the London Standard, Luka Vuskovic and his camp are now prepared to escalate things further, and if this happens, it could potentially be a point of no return for Spurs and the player. Because Tabuteau says that Vuskovic is prepared to submit an actual transfer request to the club in order to facilitate his permanent departure this summer.
It appears Vuskovic's camp is very smart and understands that despite all the stinks they are making in the press, Tottenham hold all the cards over the Croatian international's future. He is under contract, he is their player, and they can do as they wish. The only thing Vuskovic can do to fight back is get nasty, throw a tantrum, threaten not to go out on loan and play for whoever signs him, or submit a transfer request and become so abrasive that Tottenham do not want to deal with his head case anymore. And unfortunately, it appears that it is what we are all headed for.
