Teenage Croatia defender Luka Vušković joins Brighton from Tottenham in $60M deal

BRIGHTON, England — Teenage defender Luka Vušković moved between Premier League clubs on Tuesday, joining Brighton from Tottenham after playing at the World Cup for Croatia.

Brighton said the 19-year-old Vušković signed a five-year deal without stating the transfer fee.

British media reported the fee was 46 million pounds ($61.5 million). One month ago Tottenham paid Brighton a reported 52 million pounds ($69.6 million) for the Netherlands defender Jan Paul van Hecke who Vušković should now replace.

Vušković played once at the World Cup, starting in the 4-2 loss to England in their opening group-stage game. Croatia was eliminated in the round of 32 by Portugal after a controversial call to disallow an equalizing goal deep in stoppage time.

Vušković’s game time at Tottenham seemed blocked by the offseason signings of central defenders Van Hecke and Marcos Senesi, who was a free agent after his contract expired at Bournemouth.

Vušković spent last season on loan from Tottenham at Hamburger SV, where his brother Mario remains under contract serving a four-year ban in a doping case that expires in November. He won the Bundesliga's official rookie of the month award four times.

Brighton placed eighth in the Premier League last season and qualified for the third-tier Conference League, starting on Aug. 20 in the qualifying playoffs round.