Dejan Kulusevski has undergone another procedure on his injured right knee.
Sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder had an arthroscopy earlier this month, a minor surgical intervention to clean up the knee that has left him unable to play since May 2025.
Kulusevski confirmed on Instagram on Thursday morning that he “had a small intervention in the knee two weeks ago”, which was why he was seen limping with the Sweden squad in Valencia on Wednesday. Kulusevski has joined up with Graham Potter’s squad ahead of their World Cup play-off against Ukraine on Thursday evening, even though he is unable to play.
Kulusevski wrote that the procedure was a success. “Went in and took out what was not suppose[d] to be there,” he wrote. “Knee is great now.”
It is more than 10 months now since the knee injury which has ruined Kulusevski’s season. He injured his right patella during a Premier League game against Crystal Palace on May 11, 2025, and underwent what he later described as “knee patella cartilage surgery” three days later.
The injury, less common and more complex than a conventional knee ligament injury, has taken more time to recover from than anyone expected.
Then-Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank revealed at a press conference on January 8 that the priority was “to remove the pain in the knee” and that Kulusevski had an injection to help with that at the start of the year. Frank admitted that Kulusevski’s was “a complicated injury”. That continued discomfort is why Kulusevski needed this month’s procedure.
While earlier this season Kulusevski was setting targets for his return to action, in recent months he has changed his mindset. He is trying to take one day at a time, working as hard as he can, rather than setting specific targets and inviting extra pressure. So that when he returns he can do so at his best.