Luka Vuskovic Impresses in Brighton Debut
Luka Vuskovic did not need long to feel at home on the south coast.
Brighton’s record signing walked out at the Amex Stadium for the first time on Thursday night, took his place at the heart of defence against Roma, and slipped into the rhythm of Fabian Hurzeler’s side as if he had been there far longer than a few weeks.
It was only a pre-season friendly. For Vuskovic, it felt like a marker.
“A clean sheet is the most important thing for me as a defender, but I think we played very good as a team,” he told BBC Radio Sussex after the game, reflecting on a composed first-half display before making way for club captain Lewis Dunk at the interval.
The 17-year-old – a towering centre-back already carrying the weight of a club-record fee – sounded strikingly settled. The past “two or three weeks” since his arrival, he said, have been “really nice” and he is “enjoying” his time on the south coast. The dressing room has done the rest.
“All the guys accepted me really well, so did the coaching staff and the other people at the club,” he said. “I think we are a really good group of young people and we can only grow as players and humans. I think this will be a really good season for us.”
Those are not the words of a teenager overawed by the Premier League stage. They are the words of a defender already thinking in collective terms, already measuring his own performance by the team’s clean sheet.
Hurzeler, who has not been shy about trusting youth, clearly sees the same thing.
“He’s very mature for his age so he adapts quickly and understands quickly,” the head coach said. “If a player can understand quickly then it shows they have real quality.
“He will be an important player for us. This is just the first step as there are things that he needs to improve, but he has the right mindset and attitude.”
The praise did not stop with his defending. Vuskovic arrives with a reputation as a set-piece weapon, something Hurzeler is keen to harness in a league where dead-ball situations often decide tight games.
“He is a big threat as he scored a lot of goals at his previous club, so that will help us with set pieces which have been very important for us in the Premier League,” Hurzeler added.
One calm, clean 45-minute outing against Roma will not define Vuskovic’s Brighton career. It did, though, offer a glimpse of why the club were willing to break their transfer record for him – and why, as the season edges closer, there is a quiet confidence that this young defender can grow into one of the pillars of Hurzeler’s new era at the Amex.
