Tottenham Hotspur have not seen Dejan Kulusevski out there on a football pitch in about 18 months, and this prolonged injury saga has gone from being desperate to a beautiful one. Because whereas Kulu's injury once seemed mysterios and even career threatening, the Swedish international has been back on the pitch over the past couple of months and inching closer towards a return.
Both Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi and Swedish national team manager Graham Potter have been toeing the line of optimism perfectly, careful not to thrust too much onto Kulu and also cautious about tempering expectations for a player coming off a serious injury when he is past the age of 25.
But the positive signs are too much to ignore, and Tottenham fans now have another one to keep in mind. Because according to a report from Matt Barlow of the Daily Mail, Dejan Kulusevski has quietly hit another big milestone.
Dejan Kulusevski may only be a month away
After returning to the pitch to jog, playing with the ball at his feet, taking shots, and then practicing with his teammates, Kulusevski is now playing in 11 on 11 matches in training. Now, Kulu isn't training in scrimmages with the first team just yet, but he did reportedly participate in a scrimmage at Tottenham Hotspur with the youth players. Per Barlow, Kulusevski was against some U18 and U21 players in an 11 on 11 over the September and October international break, putting him even closer to a potential Tottenham return.
Kulusevski 100 percent isn't coming back for the Manchester United game this weekend, and even the rivalry match against Chelsea later this month is probably too soon for him. He could possibly be named in the squad to be around his teammates, which is a strategy Roberto De Zerbi pulled with James Maddison at the end of the 2025/26 season so that the veteran could be in the mix as he returend from an ACL tear, but playing is a stretch.
That being said, November now looks like a legitimate target date for Kulusevski. Because if he is in scrimmages now, even against the youth team, that speaks to the progress in his recovery and means he is really just a few tweaks and assurances away from being able to play in actual games and get his feet and fitness under him slowly but surely. A major return is in the air for Tottenham.
Add us as a preferred source on Google