When Hamburg needed someone to carry them through a promotion season, they leaned on a teenager on loan from Tottenham. That teenager was Luka Vuskovic — and he is now the most expensive footballer in Brighton & Hove Albion’s history.
The Albion smashed their transfer record to bring the Croatian centre-back to the Amex, announcing the deal on 14 July for an initial £46 million that could rise to £50 million with add-ons. He reported for pre-season fresh from featuring for Croatia at the World Cup. For any Seagulls supporter still wondering exactly what kind of defender has arrived, a reporter who watched his breakthrough season up close has delivered a glowing verdict.
What Luka Vuskovic offers Brighton
Henrik Jacobs has covered Hamburger SV for the daily Hamburger Abendblatt for 12 years, and he watched Vuskovic dominate the Bundesliga at just 18. “Technically, he’s brilliant for a defender,” Jacobs said. “When he has the ball he’s already like the playmaker in defence. Tactically he’s far ahead of his age.”
In one-on-one duels, both on the ground and in the air, he had the best numbers in the Bundesliga. He’s also a huge attacking threat. He scored six goals, but honestly he could have scored even more.
This is a defender calm enough to dribble past opponents even against Bayern Munich, and one Jacobs described as “the chief” at Hamburg despite his age. The bond began almost by accident: Vuskovic turned up at the stadium with his brother Mario, himself a former Hamburg player, to watch the club’s promotion celebrations, and stayed to join the squad. The manager asked whether he could imagine playing for HSV. He could.
Why Hurzeler is a perfect fit
Jacobs knows Fabian Hurzeler well from the head coach’s own time in Hamburg, and he believes the pairing makes sense. “I know the style of football he likes to play,” he told The Argus. “He wants modern football with intelligent build-up play from the back, and I think that’s a perfect fit for Luka Vuskovic.”
Vuskovic arrives with Jan Paul van Hecke reportedly heading the other way to Spurs, handing Hurzeler a ball-playing centre-half tailor-made for the possession-based system he wants to build from the back. On paper, at least, it is a swap that suits everyone.
The Premier League question
The one caveat is experience. Vuskovic has never played a Premier League minute; his sole Tottenham outing came in a 2025 pre-season friendly against Reading, having joined Spurs from Hajduk Split before being loaned straight to Germany. Jacobs, though, is unconcerned.
He has enormous self-confidence, and I don’t think the lack of Premier League experience should worry Brighton fans. This season proved he can handle pressure.
At Hamburg, so much responsibility fell on Vuskovic’s shoulders that the team visibly struggled whenever he was missing. Now the weight of a club-record fee sits on those same shoulders on the south coast. If Jacobs is right, the Albion have not simply signed a defender for the present — they have signed one the Amex could build around for years.
