Remember Dejan Kulusevski? The Spurs forward? The ginger from Sweden? You would be excused for needing a minute to think about it. Come May, the winger will have been out of action with the same knee injury for a whole year as his return prognosis keeps getting delayed. How can Kulusevski’s everlasting injury be understood, and how can the year-long sabbatical affect a career on the rise?
Let me start by putting the Swede’s absence into some context. The massive ligament tear on Manchester City’s midfield maestro Rodri had him on the sidelines for 236 days; when Christian Eriksen collapsed onto the grass in a horrifying EURO 2021 moment, his frail heart kept him out for 232 days; when Andre Gomes’ ankle was left dangling after a horrific Son tackle in 2019, the Portuguese midfielder was up and kicking after just 110 days. At the time of writing, 317 days have passed since Dejan Kulusevski was substituted for a ‘knock’ at the end of last season — his 26th year will have consisted of more free throws and bible verses on his instagram than any touches on a football pitch.
I am no doctor — I understand that injuries that look horrifying can be relatively minor and that one small click in the knee can mean the end of a career, but this has never been presented to us as a year-long recovery. After his surgery, the club stated that he would be away for a few months and many believed that the summer would provide adequate healing time for the mentally strong Kulusevski. It must be remembered that he is not an especially injury prone player — his longest injury spell before this one lasted little more than a month.
It would be one thing if the star forward was in a team that was getting along fine without him, but anyone who has glanced at the Premier League table recently will know that Spurs are desperate for a saviour. And it is not only in England that Kulusevski’s absence has been noticeable — the winger missed all of Sweden’s disastrous qualification games for the World Cup and is currently hanging out with his countrymen as ‘emotional support’. In response to a swarm of speculation surrounding videos of Kulusevski limping when greeting his Swedish teammates in Valencia, the player felt forced to explain himself on social media. He claimed the limp was due to a “small intervention in the knee two weeks ago” where they “went in and took out what was not supposed to be there.” He wrote that “the knee is great now,” before going on to post yet another inspirational Muhammad Ali speech (overlaid with music which was far too loud).
At the end of the day, it is difficult to know if Kulusevski’s year-long injury has more to do with bad luck or incompetence. Has the player slacked in his rehab? Is the Tottenham medical team that clueless? How can there still be things in his knee which are not supposed to be there? The slow trickle of information that has been communicated from both the club and player makes it impossible to piece together the mystery of the ever-growing delay. I do not read many football books, but this is one player autobiography I will throw myself into in a decade or so. I need to know what happened. I need to know what a player so far from his sport does during the day and how he gets through it. Does the lack of purpose not gnaw at his bones?
Only time will tell what becomes of Dejan Kulusevski. The 26-year-old is a true leader and fighter, and should have the best years of his career ahead of him. The Premier League has missed this smart winger and Sweden are in desperate need of a leader, so I really hope Kulusevski hits the ground running after the summer. Whether in the Premier League or the Championship, I hope to once again hear Spurs fans sing for their ginger from Sweden.
“Sweden-Slovenia Nations League 2022-09-27 17 Kulusevski (cropped)” by Original: Rolandhino1 Derivative work: Danyele is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.