Dejan Kulusevski fears confirmed by latest Tottenham announcement
Tottenham fans haven’t seen Dejan Kulusevski kick a ball in anger since May 2025.
Kulusevski suffered a knee injury against Crystal Palace on 11 May last year, right before Tottenham‘s Europa League final win over Manchester United.
It was then confirmed in August that Kulusevski wouldn’t return until the start of 2026 at the earliest, but one week into February, and there’s still no sign of the Swede.
In the midst of all that, there was even talk of Man City swooping for Kulusevski last summer, but ultimately, nothing came of that reported interest.
Spurs’ Champions League squad confirms Dejan Kulusevski fears
Kulusevski‘s absence has been felt massively this season too, as Thomas Frank‘s side once again are struggling towards the bottom of the Premier League.
However, one competition that Spurs are faring better in is the Champions League, with Frank’s side finishing the league phase of the competition in fourth.
That has seen them automatically secure a place into the Round of 16, and as such, has provided Frank with the opportunity to rename his 25-man Spurs squad for the knockout stages.
The Spurs boss, as confirmed by Tottenham across their official channels, has made three changes to his team, with Mathys Tel, Radu Dragusin and Conor Gallagher replacing Ben Davies, Rodridgo Bentancur and Brennan Johnson respectively.
But there is no place in the squad for Kulusevski, which would suggest that the attacker is some way off returning to fitness yet.
This confirms the worst fears of Tottenham fans, with Kulusevski clearly not yet close to a return to first-team action.
Mathys Tel gets Spurs Champions League chance
Frank decided to include Dominic Solanke over Tel in his last Champions League squad, as the 20-year-old forward continues to search for a way to kickstart his Spurs career.
However, that chance may now have presented itself, as he’s now been included in the knockout stages squad, and could be primed to take advantage of the injuries in the Lilywhites’ forward ranks to play a key role.
As detailed in the above graphic from Sofascore, Tel has enjoyed a strong 44.1 per cent dribble success rate, but hasn’t quite been able to impact games enough with a 0.50 key passes per match and 0.95 shots per game.
He is however, being limited to just 36 minutes per match so far this term, which isn’t a whole lot of time to really sink his teeth into a football match and leave his mark on it.
Tel’s best opportunity to make a big impression on Frank could now come through the Champions League, as his three league goals in 17 games this season isn’t doing enough for him to cement a starting role.