It's easy to forget, but Thomas Frank has been playing this entire 2025/26 season shorthanded as he begins his journey with Tottenham Hotspur. James Maddison, Dominic Solanke, and Dejan Kulusevski are three key players from last season's Europa League winning team, yet none of them have been healthy enough to play this campaign due to lingering injuries from last season.
Maddison's importance to the team is blatantly obvious as one of the best playmakers in English football over the last decade, while Solanke is the most discussed of the three because of Spurs lingering problem at striker, which was further highlighted in the recent 2-0 loss to Newcastle by Richarlison's incompetence on the night.
But Kulusevski cannot be forgotten as a key player for Tottenham, and when he finally arrives from a tricky knee injury, which could be as soon as a month, Spurs are going to be much, much better off for it.
Kulu is now an experienced veteran attacking player, and, last season under Ange Postecoglou, he showed off some serious versatility. One of the best right wingers in Serie A from a young age at Parma, the Swedish international moved to Juventus and then played even better at Tottenham. Then last season, he moved to midfield and was quite good as a 10 and respectable as an 8.
Dejan Kulusevski is an asset
With his progression, creativity, and work rate, Kulusevski can be a real asset to Spurs and what they are missing. Tottenham signed two potentially transformative young players this summer in right winger Mohammed Kudus and No. 10 Xavi Simons, but they have no help at those positions behind them.
If Kudus needs rest, they have to go with Brennan Johnson, who cannot create, defend, take players on, or progress the ball like a winger should. Kulusevski, of course, very much can do those things, and he can do them at a high level.
Meanwhile, Simons isn't hitting it off yet, and Kulusevski can bring a different element or even light a fire under the Dutchman. When he returns, he can give Tottenham more flexibility and consistency in the attacking midfield until Simons fully integrates into English football, which appears to be an issue for him.
Kulusevski may be a forgotten man because of how long he has been on the shelf and how many new faces there are at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but when he gets back from that knee injury, there are two key roles for him to knock out.