Tottenham beat Man City to sign wonderkid – but he won’t join until 2025

Tottenham have confirmed the signing of Croatian starlet Luka Vuskovic on a deal until 2030.

But the 16-year-old centre-back won’t link up with the north Londoners until 2025 due to FIFA rules.

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That is because following the United Kingdom’s EU exit in 2020, players from overseas are not allowed to join until they turn 18.

Still, it is a huge coup from Spurs to secure the services of the highly-rated teenager in a £12million deal.

A Tottenham statement read: “We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement for Luka Vuskovic to join the club in 2025 from Hajduk Split, in a deal which will run until 2030.”

Spurs have been able to confirm his signing outside of the window due to the transfer being regarded as a ‘developmental signing’.

Vuskovic, who is the Croatian top-flight’s youngest ever player, was believed to be on Manchester City’s radar earlier this year.

According to The Athletic, the Citizens lodged a £10.2m bid to sign him in March.

But an agreement couldn’t be reached, leading to Spurs to hijack their proposed deal for the defender.

The 6ft 4in centre-half only made his professional debut in February, which came in a 4-0 defeat against Dinamo Zagreb.

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In total, he has appeared in 11 games in all competitions for the Whites, with the player featuring in their Croatian Cup final win over Sibenik.

He is also Split’s youngest ever goalscorer having found the back of the net last season at the age of 16 years and five days old.

Vuskovic will be the latest Croatian star to don the Spurs shirt after Luka Modric, Vedran Corluka, Niko Kranjcar, Stipe Pletikosa and Ivan Perisic.

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