Towards the end of last season, Dejan Kulusevski picked up an injury that forced him to miss Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League final win over Manchester United.
On May 14th, the north London club confirmed that the Sweden international successfully underwent surgery after he “suffered an injury to his right patella”.
The attacking midfielder hasn’t featured for Tottenham this season and may not return to the pitch anytime soon.
Last month, Sweden manager Jon Dahl Tomasson expressed his disappointment with the 25-year-old missing their World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Kosovo in September.
On Monday, the former Blackburn Rovers manager spoke to Swedish media, where he has confirmed the Tottenham player has joined the national team camp and Fotbollskanalen have relayed his comments.
The Dane has hailed the former Juventus man for being part of the group, while insisted that he can’t count on him on the pitch.
“Dejan Kulusevski will be part of the group. He will not be able to play but he will be there anyway,” he said.
“That says something about his character. He will do everything to make sure we get to the World Cup. He wants to help the team. He will be with the team throughout the training camp.”
The national team manager was immediately asked whether Kulusevski will be there for the matches against Slovenia and Kosovo.
Responding to that, Jon Dahl Tomasson explained: “Yes, he will come along.”
The Spurs attacker can make the best use of his leadership qualities to help Sweden for their upcoming two fixtures.
When asked whether it was Kulusevski’s initiative to join the group, he added: “We have talked many times, and he asked me if he could be there.”
“I replied: ‘Of course you can!’. Everyone in the team thought: ‘Wow, he has the right character’ when they heard about it. This says something about his personality.”