It took until deadline day, but Tottenham finally got a pair of January addition in Juventus duo Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.

OFFICIAL: Tottenham sign Dejan Kulusevski on loan and Rodrigo Bentancur on a permanent deal from Juventus ✍️

Antonio Conte finally got some new players 🥳 pic.twitter.com/dqECar1UeN

— GOAL (@goal) January 31, 2022

And while a permanent deal for Bentancur is one to perhaps gloss over as a “safe” signing, the coup of Dejan Kulusevski is fascinating and exciting in equal measure.

It seems a deal on favourable terms too, with the London Evening Standard reporting that it is an 18 month loan for the Swede, setting Tottenham back 10 million euros. Then, there is an option to make the deal permanent for £25 million, which becomes an obligation if he plays in more than 50% of their matches and Tottenham return to playing Champions League football.

All in all, it could set Spurs back over £30 million, but only providing he has proved himself a success and Tottenham have returned to the top 4, in which case the additional revenue will balance out the fee for the Lilywhites.

ROME, ITALY – JANUARY 09: Dejan Kulusevski of Juventus celebrates after scoring his team’s third goal during the Serie A match between AS Roma and Juventus at Stadio Olimpico on January 9, 2022 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matteo Ciambelli/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

It is the second time Antonio Conte has pursued Kulusevski in his managerial career, having also wanted him at Inter Milan, and at Tottenham he has finally got his man.

But what makes Kulusevski so special? 101 sat down with Italian Football expert Nima Tavallaey Roodsari (@NimaTavRood) to find out.

Expert analysis on Dejan Kulusevski

Kulusevski burst onto the scene in Italy with Parma, registering 10 goals and 9 assists in his first season as a senior professional, but his career has stagnated somewhat since he moved to Juventus. 55 appearances for the Old Lady across three managers have yielded just 5 goals and 6 assists in Serie A.

Mostly, Kulusevski has been an option from the bench, starting in just 24 of those 55 appearances, and he has fallen out of favour with current Juve boss Max Allegri.

TURIN, ITALY – DECEMBER 21: Moise Kean of Juventus is substituted for Dejan Kulusevski after picking up an injury during the Serie A match between Juventus and Cagliari Calcio at Allianz Stadium on December 21, 2021 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)

‘Kulusevski signed for Sarri but never got to play for him so I think this is just a bit of a restart for him’, Nima explains. 

‘Because he didn’t understand the game that Allegri wanted him to play, he always looked like a car with the handbrake on and never felt natural under Allegri’. 

Part of the problem was where he was deployed by both Pirlo and Allegri. 

‘His versatility has been his strength up until he signed for Juve, where it became a bit of a weakness. Because he was so versatile they kind of put him everywhere instead of playing him in one position and allowing him to grow into that. 

Pirlo was playing him as a wing-back, as a second striker, basically every position on the pitch except for goalkeeper.’  

As transfermarkt data shows, Kulusevski has been utilised all over the pitch during his time at Juventus

So, after a tough time at Juventus, what sort of player have Tottenham ended up landing?

‘Dejan is a non-stop machine, he never stops running. When it came to distance covered, [Marcelo] Brozovic [Nicolo] Barella and Kulusevski were in a league of their own. He doesn’t know what being tired is, he just runs and runs and runs until he can’t move. He’s a workhorse and he’s rarely injured’, Nima revealed.

‘They are getting a player who is predominantly left-footed but is very good with his right, they are getting a player whose stamina and work-rate is a 10, a player who is very loyal to the team and a player who is angry at how things went at Juve.’

That anger could work in Tottenham’s favour, with the young Swede keen to show those that doubted him just what he can achieve on the biggest stage. But perhaps more pressingly given his well-reputed versatility, where is he likely to play under Conte?

‘He can play as a second striker, he can play as a left-winger or a right-winger and he can play as a no.10’, Nima explains.       

‘He thinks his best position is as a no.10, and I think Conte has bought him as the attacking player to transport the ball between the midfield and the attack, in ball progression in a 3-5-2, or on the right in a 3-4-2-1.’

A perfect fit?

It is important to remember the importance of having a player who can carry the ball in a Conte system. Calcio Verticale, as his system is called in Italy, is defined as:

‘On the ball, the idea is sharp, vertical football played in the transition, and while this includes plenty of long balls forward and incisive dribbles through the lines, it is also about distributing as fast as possible into a narrow front three, who turn and run directly in behind.’

Kulusevski can be that dribbling component, although he is a riskier dribbler than any of Tottenham’s current midfield options. Even in his best season at Parma, his dribble success rate stood at just 56%, although he attempted over double the volume of dribbles per game of any of Conte’s current preferred midfield.

Dejan Kulusevski of Parma Calcio 1913 during the Serie A match between Parma Calcio 1913 and Atalanta at Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma, Italy on 28 July 2020. (Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

That is to be expected, however, from those dribbling further forwards. Heung-Min Son, for example, has a success rate of just 56.4% this season, while mercurial Manchester City talent Phil Foden also sits at the same success rate.

It is in progressive carries that he stands out as a midfield option. Before this season, which has undoubtedly been a disappointment, Kulusevski averaged 8 progressive carries per game, almost double that of Hojbjerg this season. Even this season, his paltry 4.55 per game stands just ahead of the Dane’s 4.41 per 90.

Clearly then, he adds something to Antonio Conte’s toolbox that he doesn’t already possess, and something that Kulusevksi possesses in spades. But that does not mean that there are not things to be worked on.

‘He’s a 21-year-old. Like all 21-year-olds, you’re going to have weaknesses and things that don’t work. He’s not very good in the air for example. He’s 186cm but he’s not very good in the air. I still think the decision making can always improve’, Nima reasons. 

‘But for me, after the era of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, I think he’s the biggest talent to come out of Sweden after Ibrahimovic and Alexander Isak’.

In 2019/20, Dejan Kulusevski was named the Serie A Best Young Player:

36 games
78 chances created
76 take-ons
10 goals
8 assists

Super Swede. 🦸‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/dkcfdUG9Xa

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 28, 2022

Nima did not stop there in his high praise of Kulusevski either, suggesting that he may be perfect fit for Antonio Conte and the project that he is looking to build in north London.

‘I think this guy has everything, every trait and characteristic, that a Conte midfielder needs: his work rate, his stamina and the fact that he never gets tired, he’s good with both feet, he’s a good crosser, he’s got a good technique and he actually has a pretty good read of the game.’ 

‘They are getting a player who, in my opinion, once he is fully integrated and has understood what Conte wants from him, will be an absolute monster’. 

Raised in Sweden since he was 3 years old, Nima watched Kulusevski and his compatriots torment sides in the Euro 2020 finals, forming a deadly trio with Isak and Emile Forsberg, and thinks Tottenham could well look to harness their newest addition in the same way.

‘The way the Swedish national team played was as a 4-4-2 and Dejan was the second striker, but that was more when they didn’t have possession. When they had possession, it became a 3421 with Isak as the tip, Emile Forsberg to the left and Kulusevski to the right.’

‘But the positional shifts between them and the link-up play was what drove all teams crazy, they never stopped moving.’ Tottenham could now be about to see their own version of the front three play out with Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son. 

Tottenham fans will be hoping that Kulusevski is even a fraction of the player that Nima suggests he could be, as they continue their hunt for long-overdue silverware.

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