Kulusevski Closes In on Tottenham Return After 500 Days Out
Dejan Kulusevski is back in training with Tottenham after more than 500 days out with a kneecap injury, with team-mates calling the midfielder 'a real machine'.
Published 1 Oct 20262 min read
Dejan Kulusevski has taken his biggest step yet towards a Tottenham return, rejoining training with his team-mates after more than 500 days on the sidelines with a serious kneecap injury. The midfielder has not played since the end of the 2024-25 Premier League season, but the latest updates from Hotspur Way suggest a comeback is finally imminent.
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“A real machine”: the dressing room's verdict
The encouragement has come from inside the dressing room. Team-mate Lucas Bergvall described Kulusevski as doing “incredibly well” in training and labelled him “a real machine” — a measure of how the Swede has attacked a rehabilitation that has tested his patience across two seasons.
One knock-on effect is on international duty. Kulusevski's return to the Sweden squad has been put on hold again, with the national team and the club preferring that he completes his reconditioning with Tottenham rather than rushing back into competitive international football. The priority is a club return first; the yellow shirt of Sweden can wait.
The rest of the medical bulletin
Tottenham's injury list has other entries. Pedro Porro suffered an injury in the Premier League clash with Aston Villa and is being assessed, while Mykhailo Mudryk continues his own recovery programme. With James Maddison also central to the side's creativity, the club's attacking options are edging back towards full strength — Kulusevski's return would complete the picture.
For a player who was once among the first names on the team sheet, the timing is delicate: after 500 days out, the final steps are about sharpness and confidence as much as healing. Tottenham supporters, though, have not had this much reason for optimism about him in a long time.
What comes next
The next checkpoint is straightforward: full contact training, then minutes with the development side or in behind-closed-doors fixtures, then a place in a matchday squad. If his knee responds to each stage the way it has responded to this one, Kulusevski's name on a teamsheet is closer than it has been at any point since his injury.
OneLightScore will track Kulusevski's return and Tottenham's team news, lineups and injury updates through the Premier League season.