Tottenham will be watching Luka Vuskovic very closely during his loan at Hamburg.
After defeats to Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, Tottenham travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday in a vital London derby clash to end 2025.
Thomas Frank is under major pressure at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Jurgen Klopp being touted as a potential candidate for the Spurs job if Frank is to be axed.
Regardless of who is in charge come January, Tottenham are in desperate need of a strong winter transfer window if they are to finish in the European spots.
That may not be Vuskovic, though.
Tottenham make Luka Vuskovic January recall decision
One department that Tottenham have struggled in this season is defence.
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Spurs have kept just five clean sheets all season, and as per FotMob, are conceding an average of 1.4 goals per game.
Therefore, it won’t be a surprise to see Tottenham target defensive reinforcements in January, but they do also have another alternative that wouldn’t see them need to splash out.
Spurs do have the option to recall highly-rated 18-year-old central defender Vuskovic from his season-long loan deal with German Bundesliga side Hamburg.
However, as per The Athletic, Tottenham currently have no intention of enacting that recall clause and will instead allow the Croatian to remain in Germany for the duration of the season.
Tottenham may be wiser for allowing Vuskovic Hamburg stay in the long run
That may well be music to Vuskovic’s ears, too, as the teenager is currently enjoying a highly fruitful time in Hamburg.
With the Bundesliga in the midst of its winter break until the second week of January, Vuskovic has started 13 of Hamburg’s 15 league games so far this season.
He’s also been able to score two goals for Merlin Polzin’s side, who currently sit 13th of 18 in their first season back in the German top flight since 2018.
Vuskovic is among the top percentile of Bundesliga centre-backs in some key categories, both offensively and defensively.
As per FotMob, he’s currently registering an 85.1 per cent passing accuracy, completed 100 per cent of his dribble successfully, won 70 per cent of his ground duels and 83.1 per cent in the air and made 53 recoveries.
In short, he’s absolutely loving life with Hamburg, and so keeping him there for the full season could do him the world of good, and possibly see him return in the summer as a player who is ready to compete for a starting role with Tottenham for next season.