Dejan Kulusevski

We completed the permanent signing of Sweden international Dejan Kulusevski in June, 2023 on a deal until 2028, after he'd initially joined us on an 18-month loan from Juventus in January, 2022.

Deki enjoyed another productive season in 2023/24, scoring eight goals and claiming three assists in 36 Premier League appearances (30 starts). He appeared in 39 of our 41 matches in 2023/24, taking him to 96 appearances for us in all competitions.

There were some memorable moments - not least his late, late winner against Sheffield United on 16 September, 2023, when his goal was clocked at 90+10, at the time, the latest timed winner in Premier League history.

Deki also struck late to secure a thrilling 3-3 draw against City at the Etihad on 3 December and after scoring at Forest on 15 December, dedicated his goal to his girlfriend Eldina, who was expecting their first baby at the time. A week later, he clocked up 13.36km in our 2-1 win against Everton - the most distance covered by a player in the Premier League in 2023/24.

In January, 2024, Deki was awarded the 2023 Guldbollen (Golden Ball), the prize for Sweden’s best male player, for the second year running and he ended the season in style with a double in our 3-0 win against Sheffield United as we secured fifth place in the Premier League.

Born in Stockholm and representing Sweden at international level, Dejan moved away from his home country as a 16-year-old to join the youth ranks at Italian outfit Atalanta, where he progressed to become a first team player, making his senior debut in Serie A in January, 2019.

He spent the first half of the following season, 2019/20, on loan at Parma, where he impressed and earned a move to Juve in January, 2020, subsequently spending the remainder of that campaign back on loan at Parma. A regular starter at Stadio Ennio Tardini, Dejan scored 10 goals and provided nine assists in 39 appearances over the course of that season, earning him the title of 2019/20 Best Young Player in Serie A.

He was a regular for Juventus during the 2020/21 season, featuring in all but three of the Old Lady's Serie A matches and starting every game as Juve lifted the Coppa Italia, scoring and providing an assist in a 2-1 victory over his former club Atalanta in the final. Having also helped I Bianconeri win the Supercoppa Italiana, he subsequently represented Sweden at his first major international tournament, the delayed Euro 2020 finals in 2021, where he set up two goals in his nation's memorable 3-2 win over Poland to progress to the knockout stages as group winners.

During the first half of the 2021/22 season, he made 27 appearances in all competitions for Juve, including five in the UEFA Champions League, to take his overall tally to 74 appearances and nine goals for the Turin giants.

What an impact 'Deki' had in his first season, the second half of 2021/22. A tall, powerful presence down the right flank, the Sweden international shone in a front three alongside Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son.

He scored a goal on his first start in our memorable 3-2 win at Manchester City in February, 2022, and didn't look back, starting 15 of our final 17 matches, scoring five goals and claiming eight assists. We won 11 of those last 17 matches, scoring 41 goals along the way and his fifth goal of that spell was an absolute beauty in the 5-0 win at Norwich City on the final day as we secured fourth place in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League football. In total, Dejan made 20 appearances in all competitions for us during 2021/22.

In December, 2022, he earned recognition for a stand-out first year in the Premier League by being awarded the 2022 Guldbollen, the prize for Sweden’s best male player.

Having taken the Premier League by storm in the second half of 2021/22, everything looked rosy at the start of 2022/23 as Deki scored and claimed an assist in our 4-1 win against Southampton on opening day. Unfortunately, injury would catch up with the wide attacker as Deki was sidelined for the busiest two months of the season in the lead up to the World Cup. Having returned for our 4-3 win in November, he picked up another injury on the Premier League's return on Boxing Day, ruling him out for another three weeks. Deki still managed 37 appearances in all competitions, 30 in the Premier League (23 starts), scoring twice, taking his tally to 57 appearances for us in all competitions (seven goals).

Deki made his senior debut for Sweden in November, 2019 and at the end of 2023/24 had 39 caps to his name, scoring three goals.

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