Dejan Kulusevski has been a huge miss for Tottenham Hotspur over the past 15 months.
He hasn’t featured since the back end of the 2024-25 season with a complicated patellar tendon injury. What was eventually brushed off as a knock has cost the talented Swede a huge chunk of his senior career.
Kulusevski also missed Sweden’s 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign, which was another massive blow for him.
Now, however, he has been spotted out on the grass, which is proof that he is well and truly on the comeback trail.
And Roberto De Zerbi feels he is much closer to returning to action than he has ever been.
Kulusevski close to Tottenham return
Having last played under Ange Postecoglou, the former Juventus man never featured under Thomas Frank or Igor Tudor.
De Zerbi, however, looks set to welcome the 26-year-old back at some point during the first few weeks of the 2026-27 Premier League season.
“Kulusevski fit and right; he’s one of the best players we have in the squad,” he said via Football London.
“I wouldn’t like to put too much pressure on him to accelerate the process of rehab, but I hope he can be available as early as possible.”
As the Italian said, there is no pressure on Kulusevski in terms of a time frame as Tottenham have essentially played more than one season without him.
They will, however, hope the Swede returns and shows glimpses of the player he was before his long injury layoff.
