Tottenham Hotspur star Dejan Kulusevski underwent surgery after picking up an injury in May. This forced him to miss Spurs’ Europa League win over Manchester United later that month.
The Sweden international has been away from the pitch since then. He’s yet to feature under Thomas Frank, who arrived at the north London club in the summer.
Sweden appointed Graham Potter as Jon Dahl Tomasson’s successor in October. The new manager will be hoping to count on the Tottenham player for the World Cup play-off in March.
Journalist Stefan Thylin, writing in his column for the Swedish football association’s official website, reviews their November performances. He also talked about the World Cup play-off.
The 25-year-old has missed the last three international breaks, where Sweden failed to register a win. They lost four of their six World Cup qualifiers.
Potter was without a few key players for his first two matches with Sweden. The journalist believes the national team will be able to perform much better when the manager has a fully fit squad at his disposal.
This is when he also talked about the impact of Kulusevski’s absence.
“In the play-off, Graham Potter will hopefully be able to field an A-team, with Kulusevski, Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres whole, healthy and in shape, with Anthony Elanga, Lucas Bergvall, Hugo Larsson and Emil Holm available, with a defence that is safe and thus creates the conditions for an effective attack,” he said.
“Wishful thinking? Yes, maybe, but I think Graham Potter can ensure that Sweden starts playing like Sweden again, as a collective, not as disjointed individuals.
“The player I have missed the most this difficult year is Dejan Kulusevski, the creative inspirer, who grew to become a leader on the pitch. Let’s hope he is back in March, and that our defenders stop offering opponents scoring chances.
“We are putting 2025 on the table and assuming that 2026 will be a good new year. It has to be better, right?”