With everything else that’s been going on at this hell club, you’d be forgiven if you read some rumors about Dejan Kulusevski potentially returning to Juventus and got a little freaked out. But no worries, everything’s fine. According to Dan Kilpatrick in the Evening Standard, while Tottenham Hotspur’s obligation to sign Deki for £30m this summer didn’t manifest since Spurs didn’t qualify for Champions League, Tottenham still have a purchase option, and Tottenham intend to exercise it.
Kilpatrick writes that the club intends to make Kulusevski Spurs’ first “signing” of the transfer window. The purchase obligation is for £26m, and while Kilpatrick doesn’t explicitly state it, it wouldn’t surprise me if Spurs attempt to negotiate the fee down a little bit. Who’s going to be doing those negotiations with no Director of Football in place is anyone’s guess, but there doesn’t seem to be any doubt that they’re going to do it. Kulusevski joined Spurs in January 2022 on an initial 18 month loan.
Kulusevski had some embargoed quotes that were released this morning as well where he talks about how he’s in the dark about where he’ll be playing football next season.
“I’ve got to speak with the club, honestly we haven’t had time to do that because it’s been a very tough last few months. We all just tried to do our best and get as many wins as possible so I will speak with the club and we’ll see what the plan is from their side and from my side. We’ll see.
“Of course I love the club but I have to speak with the club and see what their thoughts are and how the future is looking. We’ve still got to speak about that.”
These look designed to make jittery Spurs fans swallow a little harder, but I also doubt they’re anything to worry about. A lot of professional athletes just concentrate on playing football matches and leave the details about transfers and options to their agents. Deki’s probably just making sure that he’s not putting his foot in his mouth until Spurs actually exercise that purchase option.
Deki went on to talk about his experiences this season, noting that it was a difficult one professionally because he was dealing with injuries for the first time in his career.
“So of course a disappointing season but no regrets. I know I gave it my all. I’m going on vacation now for a couple of weeks and then looking forward to the national team.
“To be honest it was many games this season that I also played good (as opposed to the dip in form). As I mentioned I had one month where I struggled but that is normal – no players don’t struggle. You want to keep that time as short as possible so when you’re not in a good mood maybe you play badly in two or three games, and not a whole month. I have to be better in that aspect but I know that I can do much more in the future.”
I have no idea what next year’s Tottenham team will look like, but I’m pretty convinced that it will be better if it features Dejan Kulusevski. I’m happy to see that the doomer predictions of him returning to Juventus aren’t accurate — I can’t see a situation where Juventus would want him back — and am happy to hear that the club still intend to make him a permanent addition.
