'I don’t think I can play anymore’ - Tottenham star Dejan Kulusevski reveals he almost retired after devastating injury hell
Tottenham Hotspur winger Dejan Kulusevski has opened up about the mental and physical toll of his long-term injury nightmare, admitting he reached a point where he feared his professional career was over. The Sweden international missed the entire 2025-26 campaign after a collision on the final day of the previous season left his knee in ruins.
A devastating blow
The former Juventus forward sustained the severe problem during the final match of the 2024-25 season following a clash with Marc Guehi. Scans later revealed a piece of his cartilage had completely detached and moved within the joint, an issue medical professionals could not simply repair.
Following a gruelling rehabilitation period, the attacker has only recently made his competitive return. He managed to step back onto the pitch for brief cameo appearances against both Coventry and Chelsea, marking the end of a gruelling 526 days stint on the sidelines.
Confessing to his mother
Speaking to Tottenham's official website, Kulusevski detailed the immediate aftermath of the initial impact. Despite feeling early discomfort, the true severity of the situation took time to sink in.
"I remember the game, it felt a great warm-up, and then I remember the hit after 10 minutes," he recalled. "It was pain but it didn’t hurt that much, it has been much worse. I could feel that the knee was moving a little bit too much. I broke my cartilage, and the cartilage flew out and went to another part of the knee, and they can’t fix cartilage so in the scan they could see that a part of my cartilage was gone."
The physical damage soon gave way to mental anguish. This led to a heartbreaking conversation with his family where he admitted defeat.
"I told my mother, I sat with her and I told her, ’Listen, I don’t think this is going to work out’," Kulusevski admitted. "I had to prepare her, ’I don’t think I can play anymore’."
Missing out on European glory
The winger's lengthy absence meant he was sidelined for one of the most significant moments in Tottenham's modern history. Spurs ended their lengthy wait for silverware by defeating Manchester United in the 2025 Europa League final, but Kulusevski found the celebrations incredibly challenging to navigate.
"That was one of the hardest days in my life, I think," he explained. "It was so beautiful to see all the people happy, but it was very difficult for me, going there with crutches, can’t walk. I couldn’t even take my medal because it was too slippery to go on that thing [the podium].
"Things like this was not nice but I accepted it and I came back to Barcelona and I had to stay there because I couldn’t travel with the flight back so seeing the team celebrating on the bus, that was probably the most difficult part of all this journey, because you feel so alone in this time."
Building momentum against Crystal Palace
Having successfully navigated his first tentative steps back onto the pitch, Kulusevski will look to increase his match sharpness in the coming weeks. Tottenham are targeting a third consecutive victory when they face Crystal Palace this weekend, providing the ideal platform for the winger to integrate further into the first team and put his injury nightmare firmly behind him.
