Arriving at Juventus with big expectations, Dejan Kulusevski was never able to meet them at the Serie A giants.
That all changed, however, when Tottenham agreed to loan him from the Turin club, with Antonio Conte feeling like he knew how to get the best out him.
That he has done, as the Sweden international has scored six goals and assisted another 11 in 29 appearances for Spurs since his arrival in January.
It simply wasn’t working under Max Allegri, which the player acknowledged in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, and revealed how working with Conte at Tottenham changed everything.
He said: “In England, I am great. Everything is better than in Turin, both on and off the pitch. As I said, now I always want to play football, and to win for my team. At Tottenham, my body changed, mainly thanks to the exercises in the gym, in no time. We work a lot every day and better than I did in Italy.
“I love how we train in London, and for sure, the credit goes to our manager: I’m very happy to play for him.”
The Swede was then asked if there was a difference between Juventus’ Allegri and Tottenham’s Conte, and the player didn’t hold back.
“At Tottenham, as I have already said, it’s much more difficult in the gym, and the results can be seen. I can say that from Juve to Spurs, my world has changed and one thing must be said about Conte. I have never met in my life, even outside of football, a person as motivated as Conte. Someone like this, when he speaks to you, enters your heart by force.”
In contrast to the six goals and 11 assists in 29 games for Tottenham, his record for Juventus left a lot more to be desired.
Kulusevski, for the Turin side, scored nine goals and assisted 10 others in 74 appearances, and drew some frustration from fans, who knew he had a lot more to give, as he had shown during his previous loan spell at Parma.
