Dejan Kulusevski has described becoming a Tottenham Hotspur player as a ‘dream come true’, admitting that he did not think twice when the opportunity came along to join the Premier League club.
Kulusevski burst onto the scene during his loan spell at Parma as a youngster saw and his impressive displays at the Ennio Tardini Stadium earned him a move to Juventus two years ago.
However, the wide-man did not quite manage to live up to his potential in Turin and he will now be hoping to get his career back on track under Antonio Conte at Spurs.
On completing an initial 18-month loan move to Spurs, the Sweden international admitted that he is excited to get started in North London, having been a fan of the Premier League since his younger days.
Kulusevski told Tottenham’s official website: “I feel very good, I’m very happy to be here, very grateful for this opportunity that Spurs have given me.
“The Premier League has always been the league – since I was 15 I was thinking about the Premier League because that’s what we watched in Sweden, that was the best league in the world and I still think it is. It’s just another world. I was always thinking ‘when can I go there?’ and then when this opportunity came, I didn’t think twice.”
Kulusevski also spoke about his characteristics as a player, admitting that he always looks to enjoy his football.
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He added: “I hope to bring energy to the team. I love playing football, it’s the best thing in the world, playing, attacking, defending, playing for each other. To win games, score goals, assists… I just want to do it all.
“That’s how I have been since I was five years old, playing football with my sister, with my family, with my friends. Football is everything I’ve had and I think it’s fun – the important thing is that you have fun when you play because if you have fun, you’re going to play much better. That’s an important thing that I hope I can bring here.
“I always want to go forward, I always want to score more goals. I’m not the type where if we are winning 2-0 or 3-0 I’m going to go back and defend the result – I want to play, enjoy, have fun and score goals.
“I’m very happy, just coming here with fresh energy, a new club, a new stadium. I can’t wait to meet the fans, to get to know the whole club, the players in the team… it’s just exciting times. I’m so happy to be here, really. It’s a dream come true, being here.”
Despite being just 21 years of age, the former Juve man is fairly experienced for his age, having won titles at Turin and played 20 times for his country (Transfermarkt).
The Swede explained that the challenges he faced from a younger age has prepared him for what lies ahead.
He added: “I think I have everything to do very well here. I’ve been at some teams in Italy, I’ve had a lot of different coaches, learned a lot from them, had a lot of players around me so I think I’m ready for the Premier League at this age and I can’t wait to play.
“At 15-and-a-half I moved to Atalanta in Bergamo. It was very hard, I missed my family so much, I still do these days, but at that age if I didn’t have the friends I had, it would be more difficult. I had a fantastic year at Parma, it was a one-year loan so I had one year to show everybody what I could do and I felt instantly after three or four games that I was getting comfortable, then after that I was just flying, I was just playing, didn’t think about anything, just enjoying my football, and it goes very well when you’re feeling good, so that’s how I want to be mentally and physically.
“I learned a lot at Juventus – it was two years but two intense years with two different coaches. It’s a very good club with very good players, I’d been playing with one of the best players in the world (Cristiano Ronaldo) so it was a very good experience.
“Now, here at Spurs, I’m excited to work with everybody. I know (Pierluigi) Gollini, I played with him in Atalanta, but I’m very much looking forward to working with the coach, because I know him from Inter. He’s a very good coach, he’s a winner and that’s what I want to be, so I want to learn as much as possible from him.
“Then with the players, there’s some very good players here and I want to collaborate with them a lot because that’s my playing style – I don’t play alone, I play with my teammates, so I hope we can help each other a lot.”
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One can tell based on Kulusevski’s attitude that Conte would love working with him. The Swede’s quotes about loving to score, track back and play with energy, will be music to the Italian’s years.
His admission about wanting to make the team better rather than focusing on his individual performance is exactly what Conte tends to look for in players.
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