Team

Luka Vuskovic’s unforgettable year at the Volkspark

With his outstanding will to win, spectacular goals and remarkable consistency, Luka Vuskovic firmly won the hearts of the HSV fans in his first Bundesliga season. His brother Mario is full of praise: “He made me and our whole family proud.”

A few minutes after a draining HSV season had officially come to an end deep inside the BayArena, with time finally available to pause for breath or even celebrate, centre-back Luka Vuskovic was already going through his post-match routine. Sitting on a kit box, the 19-year-old was refuelling with a bowl of pasta while on the phone to his father Daniel. Recovery had begun, the first analysis of the game was underway and his mind was already turning to what came next: What went well? What didn’t? And how could he keep improving? The verdict from that honest father-son debrief was that it had been a decent game, but not one that warranted him getting carried away in the interviews that were about to follow. And so Vuskovic made his way back inside the stadium, already focused on the next duties of a model professional.

“An exceptional attitude as a professional footballer”

They are scenes that perfectly capture the mindset of an exceptional talent with his sights set right at the top, and whose development appears to know no limits. “Beyond the things everyone can see out on the pitch, what really sets Luka apart is his incredible will to win. He always wants to improve. His attitude as a professional footballer is exceptional. I’ve only worked with a handful of players who have that kind of mindset,” Merlin Polzin told HSV.de. The HSV head coach saw just how strong that mentality was every day in their work together. Whenever Polzin made his usual early arrival at the stadium at around 7:00, he would regularly find the Croatian either just after him or already there before him. Vuskovic has made clear since leaving boyhood club Hajduk Split where that kind of work ethic can take you. Combined with his special talent, it is hardly surprising. After all, Luka comes from a family that lives and breathes football, with his great-grandfather, grandfather, father and brother all having played the game.

Vuskovic had already made a name for himself in 2024/25. The youngest debutant in Croatian top-flight history, having made his first appearance aged just 16, had already been snapped up by Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur on a contract until 2030 before spending the campaign on loan at Belgian top-flight side KVC Westerlo. His seven goals in 34 appearances made him the top-scoring centre-back across Europe’s top divisions. The towering 1.93-metre defender then went up another level during his loan spell with HSV in the Bundesliga. Vuskovic not only became one of HSV’s key players, but also finished with the league’s highest challenge success rate (69.1%) and, once again, as the most prolific centre-back with six goals. The 19-year-old also swept up the individual honours. After being named as the DFL’s Rookie of the Month four times over the course of the season, he was included in kicker’s Team of the Season and voted Man of the Season by HSV fans, presented by Hapag-Lloyd.

“He wanted Mario to be a Bundesliga player”

There is no question that Luka Vuskovic produced some truly special moments in just 30 Bundesliga appearances. They included his unforgettable first Bundesliga goal, which was also HSV’s first since returning to the top flight, and what will be his last for the time being, when he scored with a free-kick in the final home game of the season before celebrating in front of the Nordtribüne with his shirt held aloft. In between, there was also his outrageous scorpion-kick goal in the Nordderby against Werder Bremen, which was voted ARD Sportschau’s Goal of the Month for December and finished second in the vote for 2025 Goal of the Year. They say you should never fall in love with a loan player, but with Luka Vuskovic it was impossible not to. That was especially true for passionate HSV fans, because his surname alone had recently brought a special kind of magic to the Volksparkstadion. Five years younger than the suspended Mario, Luka wore his brother’s number 44 and rekindled the longing for a special story to continue – one almost too sentimental to be true, and the kind that only sport can really produce. “I love this club maybe a little too much. I feel so much love for the club, the players, the staff and the fans. Hamburg has become my second home,” the loanee reflected after his final home game, giving plenty of that love back.

Luka already knew that home well thanks to his brother. The fact he chose newly promoted HSV last summer, despite having a number of options, was partly because he already knew the people in charge, the coaches and the players at the club, saw Hamburg as the ideal place for his development and had a very special mission in mind. “We have a very special connection. The way Luka and I worked together wasn’t based on us spending hours every day talking about football. We could look each other in the eye and know what the other needed and wanted. There was a lot of trust there, and a sense that we both had a job to do: he wanted to help make Mario a Bundesliga player, and I wanted to keep HSV in the Bundesliga. That was clear from the start, and it made our work together really special,” explained Polzin.

“We motivate each other just as much”

As already mentioned, Luka Vuskovic did his job in outstanding fashion. Had the script of his time at HSV been written in advance, it would probably have been dismissed as an over-the-top Hollywood film, yet that is exactly how it played out. “I wouldn’t put any ceiling on what he can achieve. When you’re already taking on that kind of responsibility at 19 and performing the way he has this season, I believe you’re capable of anything,” Polzin commented, looking ahead to the centre-back’s next steps. The next landmark in his career is already just around the corner after he was named as the youngest player in Croatia’s 26-man World Cup squad this week. “I wish him every success this summer and hope he gets as many games as possible at the tournament,” added Polzin, fully aware that another Vuskovic wearing the number 44 will be sitting in the HSV dressing room again next season.

The Vuskovic in question is Mario, who looks back on his younger brother’s season with pride. “His performances across the whole season were outstanding. I’m very happy – not only with how he played, but with the whole club. The support from the coaches, his teammates and, ultimately, the fans helped him a lot. None of it would have been possible without them,” the 24-year-old commented. “This season, Luka hasn’t just made me proud – he’s made our whole family proud. As people know, this club means an enormous amount to us as a family. What makes me proudest is how much work and commitment he puts in every single day to reach his goals. That is a big motivation for me to keep working just as hard as he does. We motivate each other just as much.”