There haven't been a lot of bright sides to Tottenham Hotspur over the past month, as the club have suffered tough result after tough result. Even when they get a point, as they did on Wednesday night against Monaco in the Champions League, the end outcome still feels equivalent to a result because of the actual reality of how Spurs performed on the pitch.
So then, the biggest bright spot of the last couple of weeks has actually been a player who isn't currently on Tottenham. Hamburg center back Luka Vuskovic has been an absolute revelation in the Bundesliga, performing as well as any player in the German division not named Harry Kane, who is himself a leading Ballon d'Or candidate after less than 10 matches played in the league.
Vuskovic has been shutting fools down defensively, looking like a 10-year veteran and not a rookie center back playing in a top league for the first time as a senior player. The teenager was tabbed by Spurs supporters as a future superstar in the summer, but we almost didn't get to see this fantastic breakout start at all.
In an interview with Vikend Vatrenih, Vuskovic admitted that Tottenham actually wanted to keep him as center back depth for the 2025/26 season, but he had to fight and eventually get his way to join a club on loan where he could start every week at a competitive level.
Luka Vuskovic wanted Hamburg
Vuskovic said, "Tottenham wanted to keep me in case someone got injured. I wanted to play and get minutes, and they were fair enough to let me go to HSV. I was in contact with them as soon as they secured promotion to the Bundesliga. We agreed on everything, and in the end, it worked out well. "
It has worked out very, very well indeed. Hamburg fans are already calling him "Air Vuskovic" because of his unbeatable aerial prowess. Vuskovic is a real threat to score from set pieces with his head, but he's also quietly shown that he can come close to scoring them with his feet as well.
Vuskovic is so good that he's playing at least as high of a level of football as Cristian Romero, who is an established world-class center back for Tottenham and Spurs current best player overall. We wouldn't have gotten to see that if Vuskovic didn't take matters into his own hands by forcing a loan, and that kind of self-belief and moxie is a huge reason why he will be a massive success for Spurs, too.