What if we told you that among Tottenham’s wingers, there is a player who can speak four different languages at the age of 25? If you think that’s impressive, you should get to know Dejan Kulusevski a little better, and we can help with that.
Kulusevski has been at Tottenham for a few years now, and he made an electric start to his career in North London. An injury or two in between have slowed him down, but he has shown glimpses of his best.
He’s a key part of Thomas Frank’s squad, and a fascinating, highly-driven person, too. So, who is Dejan Kulusevski?
We’ve gathered all the information you need on his career to date, his international allegiances, his market value, and his personal life right here.
Dejan Kulusevski’s Spurs career explained
Dejan Kulusevski signed for Spurs in the January transfer window of 2022, initially on an 18-month loan deal, before making the move permanent.
The Swedish star joined Antonio Conte’s squad alongside Rodrigo Bentancur in that window, and had an immediate impact, registering five goals and eight assists in the backend of the season to help steer Spurs to the Champions League qualifying spots ahead of Arsenal.
He struggled a little in the 2022/23 campaign, as did most of the Spurs squad, with Conte’s reign coming to an unceremonious end.Following the arrival of Ange Postecoglou, like most players, Kulusevski has been rejuvenated and will now look to kick on under the management of Thomas Frank by showing his versatility of being able to play on the right-wing, as an attacking midfielder, and as a false nine.
Where did Spurs sign Dejan Kulusevski from?
Tottenham snapped up Kulusevski from Juventus, who deemed him surplus to requirements, as part of a double swoop when they also signed Rodrigo Bentancur.
While Bentancur joined permanently right away, Kulusevski spent the first 18 months on loan at Tottenham before securing a permanent switch worth a reported £25m.
Kulusevski began his career at Swedish side Bromma, before moving to Italy to join the Atalanta youth ranks. He spent some time on loan at Parma, before signing for Juventus.
Another successful loan spell with Parma followed, but Kulusevski still found time to rack up 74 appearances, nine goals, and ten assists for Juventus before heading to Tottenham.
Kulusevski is Swedish, with Macedonian ancestry
Dejan Kulusevski was born in Sweden and represents the Scandinavian country at international level. While his father is Swedish, his mother is from North Macedonia.
Thanks to this dual-heritage, Kulusevski can speak Swedish and Macedonian. He also learned to speak Italian during his time in Serie A, and was already well-versed in the English language before joining Spurs.
Kulusevski opted to play for Sweden at international level, though he did make five appearances for the Macedonia Under-16 team. He has represented Sweden at every youth level and, at the time of writing, has 41 senior caps for his country.
He made his debut in November 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifier against the Faroe Islands and has also captained his country on many occasions.
How much is Dejan Kulusevski worth?
Kulusevski’s current market value is around £46m, which is determined largely by his long contract and the fact he is still only 24-years-old and has potential to grow.
That’s according to data from Transfermarkt, who value Kulusevski at €50m. His current contract runs through to the summer of 2028.
Kulusevski earns £110,000 per week at Spurs, or £5.72m per year. He is one of the top earners at the club, with only Heung-min Son, James Maddison, and Cristian Romero ahead of him in the wage bill when it comes to permanent first-team players.
Dejan Kulusevski’s kit number at Tottenham
Kulusevski wears the No.21 shirt for Tottenham and has done so since he joined, he opts for the same number when on international duty with Sweden.
Dejan Kulusevski’s height, weight, and family
Dejan Kulusevski is 1.86m tall and weighs 80kg, giving him a fairly imposing physical frame; something he often uses to his advantage to muscle past defenders and get into the box.
As mentioned previously, he was born in Sweden, Stockholm specifically, on April 25, 2000. He is part-Swedish and part-Macedonian. He has a sister, who has always been a big influence on his career, helping to keep him motivated and make the right decisions.
Kulusevski’s partner, Eldina Vanessa Ahmic, is actually a footballer, too, and she is even more famous than him in Sweden. She plays for IF Brommapojkarna and was born and raised in Sweden, but her parents are from Bosnia and she represents the Baltic nation at international level.
Ahmic has been the star of a web series in Sweden following her life around the world. The pair celebrated the birth of their first child on April 25th, 2024.
You can find Kulusevski on Instagram, where he is very active and has 1.3m followers. He does have an X account, with over 3,000 followers, but he has not posted there since December 2023.
Dejan Kulusevki’s trophies and awards
During his time with Juventus, Kulusevski won the Coppa Italia and the Italian Super Cup during the 2020/21 season.
He was also an Italian youth champion with Atalanta in the 2018/19 campaign. In terms of personal honours, Kulusevski was named Serie A’s best young player in 2020.
He had to watch on from the sidelines when Tottenham beat Manchester United in the Europa League final having sustained a knee injury in the match against Crystal Palace just days prior.
If you want to learn more about Kulsevski’s teammates in the Tottenham first-team, check out all you need to know about Heung-min Son and Brennan Johnson.