Vušković made 30 appearances for Hamburg across their debut Bundesliga season, scoring six goals from centre-back — an extraordinary return for a teenage defender in one of Europe's most demanding leagues.
His performances drew admiration from Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea among others, and Hamburg made repeated requests to Tottenham to extend the arrangement by another year.
Speaking to Bild, Vušković was candid about the personal cost of the decision.
"As you know, it is my wish to play for HSV together with my brother Mario. But in football you cannot always have what you want. I will be a Tottenham player again from this summer."
He also acknowledged the complexity of his emotions as the season drew to a close.
"I am torn. On one hand I am glad because much of what was agreed with Tottenham has been achieved in Hamburg. But I am also sad because I really want to stay here."
The pull toward Hamburg is more than professional. His elder brother Mario Vušković, 24, is also a centre-back at the club and the pair have trained and played alongside each other for the first time as adults this season. The family dimension has been a constant thread in Luka's public comments throughout the campaign.
Tottenham signed Vušković from Hajduk Split last summer for a fee reported to be in the region of €10m, with Sporting Director Johan Lange making him one of the first significant investments of the new regime at the club.
His contract runs until 2030 and Spurs have opened negotiations on a new improved deal that would reflect his development this season.
Barcelona, who made direct contact with Vušković's representatives in March according to Sky Sport Germany, remain interested. The fact that Tottenham have taken steps to open contract extension talks signals their intention to retain him at least for assessment during pre-season before making any decision on another loan.
Whether Vušković can force his way into Roberto De Zerbi's first-team plans from July remains to be seen, but the Bundesliga campaign has given him a level of experience and credibility that means his future at the club will be a genuine conversation rather than an administrative formality.