Barcelona Circle Tottenham's Vuskovic as Spurs Face Relegation Dogfight

The hits keep coming for Tottenham. Just when you thought matters couldn't spiral further at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Barcelona have reportedly begun circling one of the club's most promising young talents.

According to Sky Germany's Florian Plettenberg, the Catalan giants have held preliminary discussions over Croatian centre-back Luka Vuskovic, the 19-year-old currently impressing on a season-long loan at Hamburg. Barcelona have added the prospect to their summer shopping list, with manager Hansi Flick reportedly keen on the defender.

Plettenberg revealed that initial contact has already been made, though Hamburg are pushing to extend Vuskovic's spell at the German club. Tottenham's blueprint, naturally, involves recalling the youngster this summer as a cornerstone of their Championship promotion push.

That's assuming, of course, they actually drop down. Spurs sit just a point above the relegation trapdoor with nine matches left to play—their first flirtation with the second tier since 1977 looming large.

Given Tottenham's financial muscle, bouncing straight back up shouldn't present an insurmountable challenge. Yet The Athletic recently identified 15 players the club would likely offload if the worst happens, alongside several fringe operators and academy graduates who'd slot seamlessly into a Championship XI. Vuskovic, earmarked as one of those key figures in a promotion campaign, now faces the prospect of plying his trade in Spain instead.

The chaos extends beyond the transfer window. Igor Tudor's managerial experiment has barely begun and already looks terminally ill. The Croatian has overseen three matches without convincing anyone—player, supporter, or boardroom alike—that he's the solution to Spurs' mounting woes.

Behind the scenes, Tottenham's decision-makers have reportedly concluded the Tudor appointment was a mistake. Sacking him before the Champions League Round of 16 clash with Atletico Madrid is now under serious consideration, according to sources close to the club.

If Tudor does get the bullet, one name keeps cropping up: Robbie Keane. The club legend, who fired home 122 goals across two spells in white, has earned considerable praise during his managerial work with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ferencvaros. A Keane appointment would at least offer some respite to the increasingly fractured fanbase—the exodus of supporters during Thursday's visit from Crystal Palace serving as a stark visual reminder of the disenchantment coursing through the stands.

For Spurs, avoiding relegation remains the priority. Everything else—Vuskovic, Tudor, Keane—flows from that single, urgent objective.