Dejan Kulusevski admits he was completely shellshocked by his first two games as a Tottenham Hotspur player, as he struggled to adapt to the pace of the Premier League.
Spurs signed Kulusevski on an initial £8.3m loan in January 2022 with an option to buy him permanently for a further £29.2m, with the Juventus man joining alongside his teammate, Rodrigo Bentancur (SkySports).
In hindsight, those first six months of Kulusevski in a Spurs shirt are looked back on fondly, with the Swedish winger driving the club towards the Champions League with five goals and eight assists in just 18 games (TransferMarkt).
However, people may forget just how tough Deki’s start to life in North London was. The former Juve man made his debut off the bench in a 3-2 loss to Southampton, then featured again in a 2-0 defeat to Wolves just days later.
Dejan Kulusevski opens up on his tough Spurs start
In his Player’s Tribune letter this week, Kulusevski recalled: “After a few days at Spurs, I realised how tough this challenge was going to be.
“The Premier League goes 300 times faster than any other league in the world, and in the first training session, I didn’t understand anything. Players were flying past me, Conte was shouting and pointing. I had joined Spurs on an 18-month loan with an “option to buy,” as they say, so if I was going to get a permanent deal, I had to perform. But my first game was an absolute disaster.
“You remember it, right? I’ll never forget it. We were leading 2–1 at home to Southampton, and my job was to lock up the win. 76th minute: I come on. 79th minute: Goal Southampton. 82nd minute: Goal Southampton. Full-time: Spurs 2–3 Southampton. Nice start, Deki.
“My sister completely killed me. Even my agent was like, ‘Hey, come on … it happens.’ Just trying to be nice, you know?
“Four days later, I go again. Wolves at home. Got to be three points. I start on the bench, but Conte puts me on after half an hour. About an hour later, I have zero goals. I have zero assists. I have one yellow card. Spurs 0–2 Wolves. What the f*** is going on?
“My sister calls me, and she just starts to laugh. ‘Hopeless, Deki…. Hopeless….'”
Fast forward another year or two and Dejan Kulusevski is now a regular for Tottenham under Ange Postecoglou on the right side of the attack and has six goals and three assists in the Premier League so far this season (TransferMarkt).
Spurs Web Opinion:
It’s always interesting to hear about the psychology behind being a top football player. I remember people moaning at how slow and hopeless Kulusevski looked on his debut, because football fans are demanding and impatient at times. To think he went from that to dragging Spurs to a top-four finish is amazing.