Fresh off winning Aftonbladet’s Guldbollen for best Swedish male footballer in 2022, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dejan Kulusevski revisited his brief yet tumultuous tenure with Juventus.
The Swede joined the Bianconeri in 2020 but failed to make an impact during his eighteen months with the club, collecting 9 goals and 10 assists in 74 appearances across all competitions.
He eventually joined Spurs last January on an initial 18-month loan with the chance for the deal to become permanent for €35 million.
“A bit of self doubt started to creep in during my second season (at Juventus),” Kulusevski admitted to Aftonbladet.
“This voice inside started telling me perhaps I wasn’t as good as I thought, which is one of the worst things that can happen to a footballer because you start to doubt all the decisions you make on the pitch.”
“It was a difficult period but it made me stronger. Now I’m doing better than ever and in fantastic place both on and off the pitch.”
“Initially I was nervous, terrified about the move to Tottenham. It was a new league, the Premier League, where everything is faster and everyone is stronger.”
“I was coming off a really poor stretch at Juventus and didn’t know what would happen. Luckily I came to a club who knew who I was, I came to a manager (Antonio Conte) who wanted me a couple years previously and a sporting director (Fabio Paratici) that initially brought me to Juve.”
He added, “They knew what I was capable of, I’ll always be grateful to them. They especially helped me during the first month. After that I took off. I’m really enjoying myself now.”
