Gary Neville says Tottenham could bank £100m for player Man City boss Pep Guardiola loves
Tottenham may not like the idea of losing Dejan Kulusevski this summer - but the deal could be worthwhile if Gary Neville's valuation is anything to go by.
The Sky Sports pundit and Manchester United icon has suggested the Swedish star may be worth as much as £100million in the past. And not only that, but even Pep Guardiola has admitted to being blown away by the player when his Manchester City side faced Spurs.
Rumours are swirling that Kulusevski could be leaving north London this summer amid interest from Aston Villa and Napoli, who are now managed by former Spurs boss Antonio Conte. It was the Italian who brought the winger to the Premier League in January 2022, and Calciomercato has reported he wants to bring his former disciple back to Serie A.
Kulusevski, 24, has spoken highly of Conte in the past and even went to bat for the tactician when he publicly criticised his squad shortly before his 2023 exit. He referred to the former Juventus and Inter Milan coach as a "a very important man" in his career, and one whom he respected a lot.
And Conte isn't the only manager who appears to hold 'Deki' in high regard after he also caught the eye of Guardiola last year. Kulusevski played a key role in salvaging a point for Spurs when they drew 3-3 at the Etihad Stadium in December 2023, setting up one goal before netting a last-minute equaliser.
"What a player," said Guardiola of the Swede after watching Kulusevski pull the strings for Tottenham that day. Despite bursting onto the scene as a winger, Kulusevski came to thrive in a makeshift No10 role last winter while James Maddison was sidelined through injury.
Neville went into even greater detail appreciating the player when he again dazzled in a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest less than a fortnight later. And it left the former Red Devil thinking Ange Postecoglou's rising star could one day fetch as much as nine figures.
"Players that play in that role, that take it on the back foot and accept it on the back foot, the attacking midfielders, the No 10s, any player of that ilk, they're very rare to be able to do that," he told Sky Sports. "What we've seen in the last few weeks is him playing that role and become one of the rare players.
"You're talking about him going from a player who might be £50million on the right to being something that if he gets going in that No 10 position, can be really special and then you're pushing it to an £80m or £100m player."
It seems highly unlikely Napoli would be able to fork out such a fee this summer without making some substantial sales of their own. The Italian giants have already spent around £40m on new players in this window without conducting any notable sales thus far.
Conte is backed by former Juventus youth director Giovanni Manna, who left Turin this summer to join him in Naples. He too will be familiar with Kulusevski's quality, but the duo may have to accept this deal is beyond their grasp this summer.
