Ivan Rakitić pushes Hamburger SV’s Luka Vušković to join Bayern Munich

Luka Vušković was a thorn in Bayern Munich’s side last weekend in the 2-2 draw at Volksparkstadion, as the Croatian defender scored Hamburg’s second goal to ultimately earn what was a historic point for Der Dinosaurier in their first season back in the Bundesliga in quite some time. The center-back is currently on loan from Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and has enjoyed a solid campaign with HSV as one of Merlin Polzin’s preferred starting defenders at the heart of the backline. His goal against Bayern was also his fourth of the season across all competitions and he’s only missed one match of the season thus far, which was the opening Bundesliga match of the season in the 2-0 loss to Saint Pauli.

Croatian compatriot Ivan Rakitić, who spent part of his career at Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, recently suggested that Vušković join Bayern at some point, as he feels the German Rekordmeister would be the right club for him to become one of the best center-backs in Europe. “All of Europe is talking about him right now. FC Bayern needs to do everything [to sign him]. I believe the boy has to go to Bayern. He has everything it takes to become one of the best center-backs. I’m curious to see if Tottenham will manage to keep him beyond the summer, because in my opinion he’s already ready for the next step to one of the absolute top clubs. And for me, there are only four or five of those clubs in Europe,” Rakitić explained to Sky Sport (via @iMiaSanMia).

As things stand right now, Vušković’s contract with parent club Tottenham is set to run through June 2030 and his current market value of €40 million could certainly continue to raise with the way he’s been performing at Hamburg SV. Even with the relatively low market value, it is expected that Tottenham values him in such a way that it would only let him go for much more (some say double or triple that figure).

Vušković has proven himself to be one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga, let alone at HSV and the Croatian U-21 national team setup.

He could be the perfect type of profile for Bayern, but with the presence of Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano having just agreed to a new deal it’d be difficult to see Vušković being in a place where he could get guaranteed minutes under Vincent Kompany. The future of Kim Min-jae is also still unclear at this point, but if the South Korean stays at Bayern beyond this summer, it’s another spot for competition for Vušković.