Tottenham supporters have not seen Dejan Kulusevski at his best this season with the Swedish star struggling in front of goal after making such an impression last term
This time last year Dejan Kulusevski was making the Premier League sit up and take notice after helping transform Antonio Conte's Spurs side following his January switch from Juventus. Departing Turin for Tottenham along with teammate Rodrigo Bentancur, the pair played pivotal roles in helping the Lilywhites put their inconsistency woes behind them to secure a Champions League berth on the final day of the campaign.
Always a tough ask for foreign players to come to the Premier League and hit the ground running, Kulusevski made his mark in England in this third Spurs league game with a goal and an assist in their shock 3-2 win over Man City. There was no looking back from that moment for the Swede.
In terms of assists, the attacker is in a good position to better the eight he created last season as he is currently on seven, but that is all going to come down to the player rediscovering his form in the final third in the remaining eight games of the season. Since football paused in November for the World Cup, Kulusevski has scored once and assisted two goals, with his last assist coming in the 3-3 draw against Southampton in Conte's final game in charge of Tottenham.
Despite his struggles to rack up the numbers in 2023, regular game time has been there for the player under both Conte and new acting head coach Cristian Stellini. Although far from his best at present, the Stockholm-born ace has shown flashes of his quality but it's his final action in and around the box that is letting him down at present.
Kulusevski isn't the only Tottenham attacker that has struggled this campaign, though, with Son Heung-min and Richarlison very much in the same boat. Whereas Son could maybe benefit from his wonderstrike against Brighton & Hove Albion last Saturday and start to edge back to his best, his Tottenham teammate could certainly do with a similar moment to spark him into life.
The player won't be happy with his goal output so far as his tally of two is set to be his lowest since making the step up to professional football unless he goes on a goal flurry in what remains of the 2022/23 season. In order for Tottenham to be at the top of their game and firing on all cylinders, the team need Kulusevski to be on song and influencing matches as he was immediately after his move from Juventus.
With Champions League qualification up for grabs, Stellini must find a way of ensuring that the Sweden star is at the peak of his powers in the run-in. If that is to be the case then Kulusevski could have a big say on where exactly Tottenham finish in the Premier League table come the final day.