The Big Interview: Dejan Kulusevski for Showmax Premier League

Dejan Kulusevski’s journey at Tottenham Hotspur has been nothing short of remarkable. Arriving on loan from Juventus in January 2022, the Swedish international quickly endeared himself to the Spurs faithful with his flair, pace, and goal-scoring ability. His performances were so impressive that Tottenham made his move permanent at the end of that season.

Now in his third season at North London, Kulusevski continues to shine. He has seamlessly integrated into the club’s culture and has become an integral part of Ange Postecoglou’s starting XI. His recent goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford was a testament to his growing influence on the team. As Kulusevski continues to mature and develop, Spurs fans can only anticipate more exciting moments to come from their talented winger.

This week Showmax features an interview with the Swede as he chats about life in London, football and everything else.

Catch Dejan live in action on Showmax Premier League when Spurs take on Brighton, on Sunday, 06 October, at 17:30

What do you make of the facilities at Tottenham Hotspur?

Everything is amazing. We have everything here to become as good as football players we can become. So, you know, everything, they have done everything perfectly for us.

You’ve been at Spurs for three seasons now. Do you feel really settled?

For sure. I feel good everywhere almost. It’s not hard to fit in for me, but this place has been so good to me. Everything from the stadium to the players and the coaches, it’s been easy because one thing you have to do is only to play football and focus on that. Everything else is just respect between everybody.

You’ve played more games at Spurs than you have at any of your clubs that came before. That’s crazy, right?

I did not know that! I’m happy to be here, and London is an amazing city. Myself and my family have a lot of friends, so, life is good.

You’re in London now, but your footballing career really started in Italy. It must have been a big decision to go over and play in Italy to try and get used to their system?

Absolutely. Leaving home at 15 without parents, without friends, leaving school, is hard. But it was a dream. It was fun also getting to know players from all over the world. I’m still friends with everybody, it’s special.

When you went over to Italy at a young age, were you a winger back then? Were you already set in your position or did you adapt your position as your football career moved on?

I was a midfielder. Then some games I played as a winger, but mostly I was a midfielder in four, three, three. and then I got loaned out to Parma. My first professional season, when I played in the Serie A, they thought I would be better as a winger and I accepted that role. My best results have come when I have played as a winger, but some games I have to do something else.

You’ve been very adaptable even in your Spurs career. You’ve not just played as a winger; you have played all over the place. I even came across the name “the mazzela”? Is that a position?

Yeah, that was my position back then, the mazzela.

But now you’ve become more of a winger in this division in the Premier League. Is that something that you prefer? Is that something that is now your own?

No, I think that in the future when I’m going to be at my best, I think it’s going to be in a central role. But for now, I can adapt. I play as a winger, but I also play in a lot of other positions. It doesn’t matter where I play, I still play my game and try to play to my strengths.

Do you set targets at the start of the season from that position that you have to meet for yourself personally or for the team?

Actually, no. I never do that. I never set goals because I know that the only thing I want to be is happy. And when I’m happy, everything comes along. So that’s what I’m striving for, to be the fittest guy in the league. To want it the most of everybody and to be happy. Then I know that I’m going to score a lot of goals, I’m going to assist, and that’s going to make our team happy and everybody.

Which managers and coaches do you feel have helped progress your game the most or you’ve learned the most?

Everybody honestly. Like everybody has something good in them. I always had good coaches, but it’s so fun that everybody is so different. Conte was amazing for me, to learn so much from him about work ethics and mentally, to be able to struggle and then – even when you struggle – something good can come out of it. And now, we have Ange, and he is amazing. Really, like so nice. The football has been so different from anything I played before. And it’s a dream for a player to play this kind of football and train like this every day. So, every coach has given me something.

I think as a forward-thinking player, you must enjoy Ange’s style more, even though you’ve just mentioned you learned a lot from Antonio Conte?

Yes, of course, it’s more fun, but you cannot forget what you learned before. So now I can play for almost every coach, because I played all the systems. I played in all the formations, so it helped me a lot as a football player, and that’s very good.

Let’s talk about the winger position. The system you’re playing in now and the position you’re playing in now. Quite a lot of the time it’s inverted. The modern-day winger plays on the right foot on the left, the left foot on the right. Is that something that you’re very pleased about? You’d rather be on that side of the pitch?

Yeah, I am, but sometimes the coach puts me left and it was fun also, because it’s completely different angles. It was fun because you always had to go forward and you don’t want to go inside because then you go on your right. So, you had to go more forward and I like that because sometimes when you play on the right, it’s comfortable to go inside all the time and you don’t go straight forward. So, I enjoyed playing left and it’s fun to play all these different positions.

The role of the wide man or the winger in the Premier League has developed. In the mid 90s, there was the likes of David Beckham and Ryan Giggs and then it became Perez and Ljungberg. Do you think that the modern-day winger will progress again?

Yeah, probably, because football is changing all the time. Now, the wingers are scoring a lot of goals. You don’t have to be so wide; you have to contribute with goals and assists. So you always expect if you play that position, you expect it to help the team in terms of goals and assists.

Do you think that the perfect winger at the moment is more of a midfielder going to play wide or a striker moving into a wide area or maybe a mixture of both?

Yeah, every team is different and everybody needs something different. So for me, I was a midfielder, so I played a little bit more like a midfielder when I’m a winger. But other players are different. They are wingers and like looking straight forward all the time. So, it depends on what the coach really wants for you. but yeah, in the future it’s going to change for sure.

In footballing terms, you’ve accomplished a lot, but you’re already happy to give back, to show the next generation of young Tottenham players what it takes to be a winger?

It’s the best feeling to give young players something because I had my idols who taught me how to play. They taught me so much. So of course I want to help young players especially, because we all love football. And if I can help them a little bit, that’s very good. Helping is the best thing in the world.

What advice would you give youngsters who want to follow in your footsteps?

So much advice, but at this age, have fun, and find what’s fun for you. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You are just a kid, you have so much to learn, so try to have fun. Do your best always. Just know some days aren’t going to be fun , and that’s life. Every day is not amazing so just keep going always, never give up, never. Even if it’s hard, it’s a little bit boring, never give up

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