Tottenham Hotspur will be targeting an alternative to Dejan Kulusevski in the January transfer window, according to journalist Dean Jones.
Jones has revealed that Tottenham are so concerned about the Swede picking up another injury that they’re looking for a like-for-like alternative in the transfer market.
Kulusevski has been a revelation at Spurs since arriving on loan last January alongside Rodrigo Bentancur. The 22-year-old winger hit the ground running with a goal and an assist on his maiden start for the club against Manchester City and ended the season with five goals and eight assists in just 18 Premier League games.
This season, however, he’s been blighted by a thigh problem that kept him out for the whole of October as Spurs picked up just nine points from six league games in his absence.
His impact on Antonio Conte’s side appears so crucial that Jones revealed on the latest episode of Chasing Green Arrows that the north Londoners are looking to bring in a star of a similar ilk.
He said: “I have heard that Tottenham are going to sign a creative midfielder in January.
“But when Richarlison got injured, everyone [said], ‘oh, they’re going to look for a Richarlison replacement.’
“I’m told that’s not actually going to be the case. We’re probably more looking at a Kulusevski-type player for Tottenham, because they were pretty concerned about the drop-off when he wasn’t there and they missed him so much.”
TIF Thoughts on Jones’ comments…
Although Harry Kane and Son Heung-min are the faces of this Spurs side, the Lilywhites don’t pose half the same threat when Kulusevski isn’t there.
Indeed, despite his injury problems, he’s still managed six goal involvements in nine league games as Tottenham started the season seven league games unbeaten – with their form only dropping after the Swede was ruled out.
Conte has been forced into playing a two-man attack rather than his preferred three-man system without Kulusevski, but with him not featuring at the World Cup, Spurs will be hopeful he’s in the perfect condition for the remainder of the season regardless of any transfer activity next month.