Dejan Kulusevski: “When you are good in your mind, you play good football” | Tottenham Hotspur
Dejan Kulusevski reflects on his latest life adventure and there is indeed a wealth in the back story. A quirky and controversial move from his home country Sweden to Italy before he was 16. Experience in Serie A with Atalanta, Parma and Juventus. An explosive start to his career at Tottenham, where he went in January. An invoicing as the great hope for the Swedish team, which he hopes to drive to the World Cup finals in the coming week and a half.
It’s hard to believe that Kulusevski is only 21 because he speaks English with light confidence – one of the four languages he is fluent in.
The others are Swedish, Italian and Macedonian; his family’s roots are in northern Macedonia. Kulusevski can understand some German and he is starting to do the same with Spanish. But there is something else for him now.
Kulusevski can call himself a reality TV star. Maybe it’s pushing a little. Kulusevski ser Playmakers – which is made by TV4 in Sweden – as “something very small… it is not even on TV, it is on an app on the internet”. The show, which entered its fifth series on Thursday, follows women who are with sports personalities and live glamorous lives. But if Kulusevski’s girlfriend, Eldina Ahmic, who has played football at a good level, is one of the main subjects, it’s not like he’s not in it either.
“They follow her life more,” says Kulusevski, explaining that Eldina records the pictures on her own phone. “There are no cameras. We would never have done that with cameras. I’m just there and maybe acting a little funny sometimes.” Kulusevski mentions a Carpool Karaoke scene. “It was me and my girl who sang together in the car, as everyone does … we love music.” But that’s when he’s asked if they were nervous about opening up their private lives. for the public that his character shines through.
“She was nervous, absolutely,” says Kulusevski. “I’m smaller. Because I know for a few years now that everything I do comes out one way or another. Yes, you have to be very careful about what you show people because they can not wait to get you down. But I mature “a lot and the more time passes, the more comfortable I feel in who I am. This is how I am. I do not care what happens and what I say. I just love being myself.” Kulusevski came to feel suffocated at Juventus. After Max Allegri replaced Andrea Pirlo as coach this summer, he found that his playing time decreased.
“It was difficult,” says Kulusevski. “You really have to be strong when things are not going the way you think they should and there are things you can not control. It’s very frustrating when you love something and you can not show it. I knew I needed a change . ” Kulusevski looks reborn at Spurs and it is a sign of the impact he has made since he moved on a first 18-month loan from Juventus that the supporters already have a song for him. “Gimme, gimme, gimme a ginger from Sweden”, they sing to the Abba classic. Kulusevski is a lot for his hip hop so Abba? Really? “They’re pretty good … I can not say anything bad about them,” he says, laughing. “I love the song. All my friends send it to me all the time and think it’s really fun.”
Kulusevski has been energized by the confidence that Spurs manager Antonio Conte has given him. He gave a powerful performance in his first start – the 3-2 Premier League win in Manchester City, where he scored one and added another – and he has retained his place for the six matches that have followed. Conte has used him as the right-hander No. 10 in his 3-4-2-1 system and he will count on him again in Sunday’s home derby with West Ham.
“It’s especially the coach and the staff who help me a lot, let me make mistakes and be me, let me play without pressure,” said Kulusevski. “When you are good in your mind, you usually play good football.
“About my best position, it’s hard to say because football is evolving and I’m a guy who can not stand still and I want to move in big, big spaces. The coach has helped me a lot because I really find my space right now. I like where I play and every match I have had chances to score. “
Kulusevski’s football trip was fired when he left his first club, Brommapojkarna or BP – in western Stockholm – for Atalanta. Considered a prodigy, BP did not want him to leave and their director, Ola Danhard, said infamously that it was “almost kidnapping” Atalanta. Kulusevski and his family did not see it that way. They wanted the move, no matter what the challenges.
“I went when I was 15 and a half, without parents … went to school in a language I did not understand,” says Kulusevski. “I did many difficult things but it helped me a lot. I learned so many new things.” Nowadays, Kulusevski can learn from one of his heroes – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who retired for Sweden in March last year. The 40-year-old is in the squad for the World Cup finals; Sweden will face the Czech Republic on Thursday and if they win, they will face Poland on Tuesday week for a place in the final.
Kulusevski speaks reverently of Ibrahimovic, who was born in Sweden to a Bosnian father and a Croatian mother. Kulusevski was also born in Sweden, as was his father, Stefan, although his parents were from northern Macedonia. Kulusevski’s mother, Katica, was born and raised in northern Macedonia and moved to Sweden as an adult.
– Zlatan opened doors for us humans in Sweden that no one can imagine, says Kulusevski. “He really helped every young child … children who were outsiders, and showed them that anything is possible. When he started mentioning my name as a player, I was like a child at Christmas.
“For me and my family, Macedonia is very important. As my mother says, we will never forget where we come from. I go there every summer and I love it.
– I have always said that if I could play for Sweden and Macedonia I would do it. But I had to choose and I chose Sweden because I am from there. Now we have the West Ham match and after that I will be ready to take my country to the World Cup. That’s where we belong. ”