Luka Vuskovic has explained his decision to leave Tottenham on loan, admitting he did not feel he was ready to be a regular starter for the club.
The 18-year-old officially arrived at Spurs this summer, two years on from agreeing to join them from Hajduk Split.
Vuskovic impressed in the opening pre-season friendly under Thomas Frank, scoring and assisting against Reading, but he then had limited involvement for the rest of the summer.
The option to join Bundesliga side Hamburg emerged and the centre-back gave the green light to move, though Spurs waited to make a final decision on sanctioning the move.
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The loan switch, which does not include an obligation or option to buy, was confirmed at the end of last week.
In an interview with Germanijak, Vuskovic revealed he could have stayed at Spurs this season and provided back-up to the first-choice pairing of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, but he felt he needed to develop his game with regular playing time.
"Yes, they offered me an option to stay, to play in case of injury or cup matches,” Vuskovic said.
“But I wanted continuous minutes. They have Romero and Van de Ven playing there, the two best centre-backs in the world at the moment. I believe in myself, but it's really difficult to play next to them.
“I felt them, I concluded that I still have to work. A lot of work and a little luck, so I'll be back."
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙬. 🇭🇷🤩
— Hamburger SV (@HSV) August 29, 2025
ℹ️ Das Luka-Jersey ist im Onlineshop verfügbar. 🫱🏼🫲🏽#nurderHSV pic.twitter.com/9NL8Yww9mC
Vuskovic will return to Spurs next summer and will hope by then to have taken a major step forward in his development.
Manchester City were among the other clubs interested in signing him before Spurs reached an agreement in 2023, having won the race by convincing Vuskovic of the pathway available to him.
"I didn't want to be just a number,” the defender said.
“At Tottenham, you told me what they expected and offered in terms of sport and that prevailed, the plan they put before me.”
