Arsenal could witness their bitter North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur make the transfer mistake they avoided and lose one of the best young players in Europe
The transfer saga involving Luka Vuskovic is quite the perplexing and, from an Arsenal perspective, entertaining one. There are so many parallels with this to a player who has since become an established force and key figure in the club’s success with the Premier League title.
Reading my colleague, Tottenham correspondent, Alasdair Gold’s line on the situation on Saturday, it seems baffling that the Gunners’ North London rivals could lose one of the most talented players in his age group for his position in Europe. Many Arsenal supporters might never have even heard of Vuskovic, and understandably so, at least until he started against England at the World Cup.
The Croatian has never made a competitive appearance for Tottenham and spent last season on loan at Hamburg with Arsenal loanee Fabio Vieira. While Arsenal are struggling to get anywhere near the £34million they paid Porto for the midfielder, Spurs have received three bids from Brighton for Vuskovic the most recent totalling a staggering £45million.
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The Arsenal player who naturally holds similarities is, of course, William Saliba. Signed before Mikel Arteta arrived at Arsenal, the same as with Vuskovic and Roberto De Zerbi.
Arteta didn’t feel that Saliba was initially ready when he took over, and after several months with the youth team, he went on loan to Nice for the second half of the 2020/21 campaign. In the 2021 summer, still Saliba was not deemed quite ready enough and went to Marseille on loan where he stunned, so much so the noises at the time were OM were desperate to sign him permanently.
But he returned and became a key part of a surprise title challenge with Arsenal in 2022/23, earning the trust of Arteta and has since become a Premier League winner and considered one of the best defenders in the world.
Thomas Frank deemed Vuskovic not ready writes Gold, citing that minutes would not be available and that the defender agreed with the assessment and went on loan. That is perhaps where Vuskovic and Saliba diverge, with the Frenchman saying more than six years ago now, “The coach immediately told me that I was not ready.
“I would have at least liked to have had a chance to rediscover my rhythm. But this is football, it’s like that.”
Spurs have since signed Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi. These stand out as far greater obstacles for Vuskovic than, for comparison, when Ben White was signed at Arsenal and soon became a right back rather than centre-half when Saliba was eventually given his chance.
Vuskovic has now liked a post on Instagram regarding Brighton’s bid. Not ideal, but at such a young age, these instances are far from uncommon in the sport.
Spurs might yet make a huge profit on Vuskovic, but if the hype is to be believed, this appears to be a big misstep by Spurs if he does leave. Brighton have been one of the best spotters of talent over the past decade, and their determination and willingness to offer such a high fee.
A fee higher than Arsenal paid for Gabriel Magalhaes, or Oleksandr Zinchenko, or Jurrien Timber, or Riccardo Calafiori and potentially more than the £45million the club will pay for Piero Hincapie. Only Ben White has forced Arsenal into a higher fee for a defender in their entire history.
Arsenal fans should celebrate Spurs letting Vuskovic leave, if they do, because it means their North London rivals would be losing one of the best talents in Europe. Only time will tell whether they do.
