Kulusevski felt embarrassed and terrible at Juventus before Tottenham transfer earlier
Dejan Kulusevski, a winger for Tottenham, acknowledges that he felt “horrible, embarrassed, and worthless” at Juventus, but he maintains that he “didn’t fail” in Turin.
After spending a year and a half at Juventus, Kulusevski departed the team in 2020 and signed with Spurs in January 2022.
“I got to learn from legends during my time at Juventus,” the Sweden international said to The Players’ Tribune.
When Zlatan, then 39, made his return for Sweden, I got to know him. He told me, ‘Listen, I’m too friendly to you guys.'” You ought to come visit me in Milan.
Kulusevski made his Serie A debut in 2019–20 while on loan from Atalanta to Parma. After recording double digits in goals (10) and assists (10) in 36 games under Roberto D’Aversa, he was voted the Serie A Young Player of the Season.
“I played unbelievable football for the next three months after this in early 2019.” Kulusevski went on, “If we had lost, I would have gone back to my room and spent an hour dribbling around with a small ball, listening to J. Cole at full volume, and performing a hundred pushups.”
“We achieved our first victory in the U19 Campionato Primavera 1 in 21 years. After winning the Serie A Young Player of the Season award and going on loan to Parma, I signed a contract with Juventus.
Kulusevski had a very successful first campaign with Juventus. In 47 appearances across all competitions, he contributed seven assists and seven goals under Andrea Pirlo.
But even though Kulusevski was born in Livorno and made 27 appearances, scoring twice and dishing out three assists, problems started when Massimiliano Allegri was hired in the summer of 2021.
“For six months, I had seldom started a game for Juventus. You see guys play in your position who aren’t even wingers, and you feel awful because you’ve sacrificed your life to play this game and trained as hard as you can,” Kulusevski said.
To be honest, I felt useless and ashamed. Some started criticizing me, claiming that I was too sluggish and insufficiently skilled. It impacts you entirely. It’s typical; that’s human. That’s the devil right there, when you start to believe them.
“I understand how it feels to have failed at Juventus. That is weird to say, in my opinion, considering that I participated in both finals, won two trophies, and helped my old club Atalanta win one of them with a goal and an assist. However, it’s true that I went through a tough period over those final six months. I had no idea how to break out from this downward cycle when I arrived at Spurs.
The Swedish international signed a €10 million initial loan agreement with Tottenham, with the option to purchase in January 2022. Spurs made his transfer permanent in the summer of 2023 for an additional €30 million.
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