Despite multiple disaster classes in important games, including a tragic red card vs. Crystal Palace that may cost Tottenham Hotspur the Premier League, center back Micky van de Ven is one of the most coveted players on the summer 2026 transfer market. La Liga rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona are lining up to bid for the Dutchman this year, but he is not the only Spurs talent top clubs want to steal away.
The biggest gem, by far, is Luka Vuskovic. Just 18 years of age, the Hamburg center back is having a season for the ages, and the shouts of him being a Sergio Ramos regen by Spurs fans during the preseason may have actually been an understatement rather than an overstatement.
A Bundesliga Player of the Season candidate after the Bayern Munich duo of Harry Kane and Michael Olise, Vuskovic has even played himself onto Bayern's radar, though he appears to be more interested in staying in northern Germany for one more year of seasoning.
Barcelona, others want Luka Vuskovic
Well, Spurs supporters worst fear is that he will never make it back to the N17 because of all the interest from Bayern in him, and now those fears are being accelerated by another one of European football's biggest clubs - and an even bigger club, if you ask Robert Lewandowski.
According to a report from Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg, via Spurs Global, Barcelona have added Luka Vuskovic to Micky van de Ven in their search for a world class center back. Plettenberg says that Barca have already begun initial talks with Vuskovic's camp, further adding that other top European clubs are after the Hambrug sensation.
With Tottenham closer and closer to relegation after their brutal loss to rivals Crystal Palace, the sad reality of Vuskovic leaving early to a bigger club is starting to sink in. Vuskovic was so good this season, and the worst part of all this is that even when Spurs get a young gem right, they are so futile as an organization that they will not get to truly benefit from him. It is a story as old as time, dating back to when Luka Modric and Gareth Bale were stolen away by Real Madrid before their peaks.
What makes the Vuskovic situation even worse is that Tottenham may not even get to enjoy a big transfer fee as they did with Bale, as Vuskovic is not yet at peak value and Spurs may not have any leverage at all if they are indeed relegated.