Kulusevski on brink of return for Spurs after 17-month absence

Portugal Colonial - Kulusevski on brink of return for Spurs after 17-month absence

Kulusevski on brink of return for Spurs after 17-month absence / Photo: Glyn KIRK - AFP/File

Kulusevski on brink of return for Spurs after 17-month absence

SPORTS 18.10.2026

Dejan Kulusevski will be back in Tottenham's matchday squad for the first time in more than 500 days for Monday's home match against Coventry as the struggling club hunt their first Premier League win of the season.

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The Swedish midfielder has not played since he suffered a serious knee injury in May 2025.

"Kulusevski (is) on the bench. We had a meeting with the medical staff. They gave the OK and it's great news," Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi told reporters on Sunday.

"Deki, he suffered too much," he added. "He deserves to feel emotion on the pitch."

Kulusevski missed Tottenham's Europa League triumph in 2025, the whole of last season and this year's World Cup.

De Zerbi said he was delighted to tell the 26-year-old that he would be in the matchday squad against Frank Lampard's Coventry.

"I said to him, 'I spoke with the medical staff and they gave me the OK' and he smiled like this (wide).

"And we are happy. We are very, very happy. It's not football. I'm not speaking about football. OK, he's a special player, but we are speaking about different things. He suffered a lot and his reaction was great."

Tottenham, bottom of the Premier League after six games of the season, have spent most of the past week at a warm-weather training camp in Marbella, in southern Spain.

Injured pair Savio and Lucas Bergvall will be among a group of absentees on Monday, along with the suspended Rodrigo Bentancur.

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Portugal Colonial - Kulusevski on brink of return for Spurs after 17-month absence

Kulusevski on brink of return for Spurs after 17-month absence

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