Tottenham winger Dejan Kulusevski has admitted the knee injury that sidelined him for the entirety of last season was so severe that he considered retiring from football. The former Juventus player was hurt on the final day of the 2024-25 campaign following a collision with Marc Guehi.
Kulusevski has only recently returned to contention for Spurs, having made brief cameo appearances against both Coventry and Chelsea. Speaking to the club's official website, he opened up about a conversation he had with his mother during his recovery.
A Difficult Conversation
Kulusevski said: "I told my mother, I sat with her and I told her, 'Listen, I don't think this is going to work out'. I had to prepare her, 'I don't think I can play anymore'."
Recalling the day of the injury, he added: "I remember the game, it felt a great warm-up, and then I remember the hit after 10 minutes. It was pain but it didn't hurt that much, it has been much worse. I could feel that the knee was moving a little bit too much. I broke my cartilage, and the cartilage flew out and went to another part of the knee, and they can't fix cartilage so in the scan they could see that a part of my cartilage was gone."
Missing the Europa League Final
One of the matches Kulusevski was forced to miss was the 2025 Europa League final, in which Spurs beat Premier League rivals Manchester United to end their long trophy drought. While he was pleased to see the side claim silverware, the occasion was bittersweet for him.
He said: "That was one of the hardest days in my life, I think. It was so beautiful to see all the people happy, but it was very difficult for me, going there with crutches, can't walk. I couldn't even take my medal because it was too slippery to go on that thing [the podium]. Things like this was not nice but I accepted it and I came back to Barcelona and I had to stay there because I couldn't travel with the flight back so seeing the team celebrating on the bus, that was probably the most difficult part of all this journey, because you feel so alone in this time."
Kulusevski could build his fitness further this weekend as Spurs aim to make it three wins in a row against Leeds.
