Mindset matters to Dejan Kulusevski.
After his move to Spurs from Juventus in 2022, the 22-year-old Swede announced himself to the Premier League in fine style with five goals and eight assists in 18 appearances including a brace against Norwich City as we clinched a Champions League spot in the season finale.
He picked up where he left off this campaign, bagging a goal and an assist in our 4-1 win over Southampton in the curtain raiser before providing two more assists against Nottingham Forest and Leicester City until an injury ruled him out for six games in October. He returned from this setback with consecutive assists against Liverpool and Leeds United before club football was put on hold during the World Cup in November.
However, with one goal and assist this calendar year, Deki has struggled to hit the same high levels in a challenging second season in England but his strong mentality shows a player who is hungry to regain that form.
“It’s been tough,” said the Sweden international. “I was very disappointed with my performances in recent months, I learnt a lot. I still have a lot of growth to do and you can’t be too hard on yourself.
“This season, there’s been a lot of ups and downs, it’s been hard but I always have to perform no matter what the situation is. Other teams know how the team plays and about how I play, so we have to adapt, change things and find solutions to get better because it’s been difficult.
“Even if you win or lose, you have to just think about the process and not get too attached to results, keep doing what you can and always do the right things even if you lose. You have to accept it as a footballer, you can’t always win and play well but I’m feeling very good mentally and physically."
The Swede life
Born and raised in Sweden, Dejan’s humble upbringing by North Macedonian parents and his experiences growing up in Stockholm have helped forge his strong mentality.
From being told at school he wouldn’t make it as a professional footballer to leaving his family behind to join Atalanta in Italy at 15 years old, he has overcome many obstacles already and has come a long way since the days of playing in the streets of Sweden’s capital.
“When I was seven years old, I said: ‘I’m going to be a football player’,” he said. “My teachers would tell me: ‘no, it’s very hard to make it’, but I was adamant that I was going to because I didn’t want to do anything else.
“We knew about Atalanta because they’re a big club and we are football obsessed in my family. My mother told me she would never hold me back because she would feel bad about it. It was really big of her to let me go.
“In the beginning it was difficult because nobody spoke English so I had to learn Italian as fast as possible so I could understand my teammates and coaches. I got to learn a new culture and language and went to a new school and met wonderful people. But leaving my family and friends behind was hard because I missed them. Sometimes I wanted to go back home but looking back I would do it again because I learnt so much and it’s where I turned professional.
“I have come a long way, I’m grateful because I’m so lucky to play at this level, I can never take anything for granted. I’m always looking forward and hungry, but thankful to play football; it’s an amazing feeling.”
After progressing through the Atalanta youth system to make his Serie A debut as an 18-year-old in January 2019, the attacker joined Parma on loan that July for better first-team experience. Impressive displays for I Crociati in the Italian top-flight earned him an international call-up for Sweden's EURO 2020 qualifiers in November, 2019, where he made his debut off the bench in a 3-0 win over Faroe Islands at 19.
His form in the first half of the season at Parma secured him a move to Serie A champions Juventus a year after his league debut. Remaining on loan in Emilia-Romagna until the end of the 2019/20 season, the Swede notched 10 goals and nine assists on his way to being awarded Serie A’s Best Young Player in a remarkable breakthrough season in Italy.
With higher expectations at the Old Lady, Deki learnt a lot about handling pressure whilst in Turin, especially from five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo who was in the dressing room at the time.
“At Parma I had one year to impress so it was important I put everything into that season,” he explained. “From the first training session I wanted to show everyone I was serious and there to help the team and I played some of the best football of my career.
“I couldn’t believe it, I was so happy to join Juventus. But that’s where the pressure started, I went into every training session like it was the last of my life and I had to perform every minute. It was amazing to play with Cristiano, it will stay with me forever and one I will tell my kids as he’s one of the best players of all time. Even if the team lost or he had a bad day he was always working hard and performing. He taught me to always stay true to the path and not focus too much on results.”
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme...
Although Deki is finding it harder to hit the same numbers in the final third as last season, it is easy to forget he is only 22-years-old, given what he has achieved at this stage of his career, and still honing his craft. And through difficulty comes a chance to learn and develop, something he is keen to continue under Acting Head Coach Ryan Mason.
"Anything can happen in football, he said. "You have to be ready to adapt very quick, we always have to perform no matter what the situation is.
"I like Ryan a lot, he knows how it is to be in our shoes because he played here just a couple of years ago. It's good when you can speak with someone like him because he's a fantastic guy.
Another leading figure at the Club he looks up to is Harry Kane, a player whose mentality surprised the Swede before witnessing it first hand. Being around our talismanic number 10 has helped Deki develop his mental approach which certainly draws comparisons to Ronaldo's influence on him at Juventus.
"With the mentality, Harry has exceeded my expectations and is better than I thought he was," said the Swede. "No matter what happened yesterday, he is like 'today I have to come in, do my work and score my goals'. I really, really enjoy playing with him - a fantastic guy and a fantastic player."
As we push for a strong finish to the campaign and with just three league games to go, the Sweden international has shown glimpses of his attacking threat down our right flank and he is only one assist away from equalling his tally of eight from last term. He has shown throughout his career that he has the mental resilience to overcome challenges put in his path and has extra motivation to deliver so he can hear his name ringing out in the stands once again.
"I want to score and assist in every game," he said. "But I'm realistic, I know it's probably not going to happen all the time so I always try to be as productive as I can to try and help the team. We have a few games to go and want to try to add to my tally as much as possible.
"I now have to score more goals and get more assists so I can hear my song more often because it gives me energy. It's a fantastic song, it's so fun! I always want to make people happy, make people smile. The fans are amazing, you always respect them, they are a huge part of the Club even when you win or lose.
"I believe in this team, we have a lot of quality so we have to show it and finish strong."
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