Dejan Kulusevski

Dejan Kulusevski (Macedonian: Дејан Кулушевски, pronounced [ˈdɛjan kuluˈʃɛvski]; born 25 April 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Juventus and the Sweden national team.[1] Born in Sweden to Macedonian parents, Kulusevski chose to represent his native country internationally at senior level, and made his full debut in 2019.

Dejan Kulusevski
Kulusevski in 2019
Personal information
Full name Dejan Kulusevski
Date of birth (2000-04-25) 25 April 2000
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Juventus
Youth career
2006–2016 Brommapojkarna
2016–2019 Atalanta
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 Atalanta 3 (0)
2019–2020 → Parma (loan) 17 (4)
2020– Juventus 0 (0)
2020 → Parma (loan) 19 (6)
National team‡
2015 Macedonia U17 5 (6)
2015–2017 Sweden U17 19 (6)
2017–2018 Sweden U19 13 (2)
2019– Sweden U21 5 (2)
2019– Sweden 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:36, 2 August 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2019

Coming through from the youth system, Kulusevski made his senior debut for Atalanta in 2019, before joining Parma on loan at the beginning of the 2019–20 season. He joined Juventus during the winter transfer window for €35 million, and was sent back to Parma on loan for the rest of the season.

Kulusevski is a quick, physical, and technical player, capable of playing in various midfield and attacking positions. Mainly deployed as a right-winger, he can also play as an attacking midfielder, as an offensive–minded central midfielder or "half-winger" (mezzala in Italian), or as a centre-forward.

Club career

Early career

Kulusevski was born in Vällingby, a suburb to Stockholm, and joined the youth academy of IF Brommapojkarna at the age of 6.[2]

Atalanta

He joined the Atalanta youth system (under-17) on 7 July 2016 from Brommapojkarna. He made his Serie A debut on 20 January 2019, coming on as a substitute for Marten de Roon in a 5–0 away win against Frosinone.[3][4] He made a total of three appearances for the club throughout the 2018–19 season, each as a substitute.[5]

Parma

On 18 July 2019, Kulusevski signed to Serie A club Parma on loan until 30 June 2020.[6] He scored his first Serie A goal in a 3–2 home win against Torino, on 30 September.[7] On 14 December 2019, Kulusevski scored his fourth league goal, against Napoli; he became the youngest player in the top five leagues in Europe to have scored more than three goals to date.[8] He was also one of two players born after 1 January 1999, alongside Jadon Sancho, to have made at least seven assists in the top five European leagues.[8]

Following his form while on loan with Parma during the first part of the 2019–20 Serie A season, during which he scored four goals and provided seven assists in 17 league appearances, on 2 January 2020, Kulusevski joined fellow Serie A club Juventus on a four-and-a-half year deal, for €35 million, which could possibly rise to €44 million with variables. Kulusevski was sent back on loan to Parma for the remainder of the season.[9][8]

Kulusevski finished the season with 10 goals and nine assists.[10] He was the youngest player in the top five European leagues to have scored at least seven goals and made at least five assists.[10] For his performances, Kulusevski was awarded the Serie A Best Young Player for the season.[11]

International career

Born in Sweden to Macedonian parents, Kulusevski played for all Swedish youth national teams,[12][13] as well as the North Macedonia under-16 national team.[14] He was called up to the Sweden national team for the first time in November 2019 for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying games against Romania and the Faroe Islands.[15]

Kulusevski made his senior international debut for Sweden on 18 November, coming on as a substitute for Ken Sema in a 3–0 win against the Faroe Islands in the last game of the Euro 2020 qualifying stage.[5][16]

Style of play

A tall, physically strong, and versatile player, Kulusevski is capable of playing in several midfield and attacking roles, and has been deployed as an attacking midfielder, as a box-to-box midfielder, as a winger on either flank, or even as an offensive-minded central midfielder, known as the mezzala role in Italian (literally "half–winger"); his favoured position is playing as an attacking midfielder behind the striker. [17] He has also been deployed as a makeshift centre-forward on occasion. His main qualities are his acceleration, speed, stamina, and his ability to switch the play or provide assists and through balls to teammates, courtesy of his vision and passing ability. He also possesses good technique, dribbling skills, and striking ability, which enables him to score goals, in addition to creating chances for teammates.[4][18][19][20]

Regarded as a promising and hard-working player in the media, his manager at Parma, Roberto D'Aversa, has compared Kulusevski to Mohamed Salah. He noted how the player "is always among the players who cover the most distance in every game", and "has the right mentality".[4] Kulusevski himself named compatriot Zlatan Ibrahimović as an influence.[4] Regarding his own playing style, he commented in a 2019 interview with Sportbladet: "I like to have the ball at my feet. I used to dribble a lot when I was a kid but I have got better at moving the ball more quickly. I have developed my defensive game, that was a weakness before, and that has made me a more complete player."[5][21] He has also cited Belgian footballers Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard as players he admires and seeks to emulate.[22]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 2 August 2020[1]
Club Season League Coppa Italia Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Atalanta 2018–19 Serie A 3000—30
Parma (loan) 2019–20 Serie A 361030—3910
Juventus 2020–21 Serie A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 391030004210

International
As of 18 November 2019[1][23]
Sweden
YearAppsGoals
201910
Total10

Honours

Individual

Awards

References
  1. Dejan Kulusevski at Soccerway
  2. "Primavera: alla scoperta di... Dejan Kulusevski". atalanta.it (in Italian). 11 October 2017. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019.
  3. "Frosinone 0–5 Atalanta". ESPN FC. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  4. "Who is new Juventus signing Dejan Kulusevski?". UEFA.com. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  5. Romano, Fabrizio (31 December 2019). "Juventus agree deal to sign 19-year-old midfielder Dejan Kulusevski for £30m". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  6. "UFFICIALE: Parma, presi Cornelius e Kulusevski dall'Atalanta". Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  7. "Ny succé för Dejan Kulusevski – första målet i Serie A". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  8. "Dejan Kulusevski è un giocatore della Juventus!". Juventus.com (in Italian). 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  9. "Dejan Kulusevski alla Juventus". Atalanta (in Italian). Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  10. "Il miglior Under-21: Dejan Kulusevski". L'Ultimo Uomo (in Italian). 3 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  11. "The MVPs of the 2019/2020 Serie A Season". Serie A. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  12. "Alla scoperta di Dejan Kulusevski, il "predestinato" dell'Atalanta che verrà | Football Scouting". Football Scouting | Campionato Primavera | Calcio Giovanile (in Italian). 17 November 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  13. "Kulusevski trascina l'Atalanta: soffiato all'Arsenal, studia da nuovo-Cristante". Calciomercato.com | Tutte le news sul calcio in tempo reale (in Italian). Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  14. "UFFICIALE: Atalanta, tesserata la stellina Kulusevski - TUTTOmercatoWEB.com". www.tuttomercatoweb.com (in Italian). Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  15. "Dejan Kulusevski uttagen i landslaget efter jättesuccén". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  16. Petersson, Martin (19 November 2019). "Nerver gav tunga ben i debuten för Kulusevski - som sågar planen: "Den var inte okej"" (in Swedish). www.fotbollskanalen.se.
  17. "FRÅGESTUNDER - @sweu21". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  18. "Dejan Kulusevski: talento svedese classe 2000" (in Italian). www.worldfootballscouting.com. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  19. Yakimov, Vilizar (2 January 2020). "Kulusevski perfect for Juve future". Football Italia. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  20. "Parma, D'Aversa: "Kulusevski centravanti? Quel ruolo l'ha fatto..."". Tutto Sport (in Italian). 25 October 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  21. "Kulusevski i stor intervju: "Känner mig speciell"" (in Swedish). www.aftonbladet.se. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  22. "Kulusevski: 'Chose Juve for Sarri'". Football Italia. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  23. "Kulusevski, Dejan". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
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