Swedish winger Jesper Karlsson has revealed Tottenham’s Dejan Kulusevski has been dishing out language lessons for him as he looks to learn English and Italian to help settle into life at Bologna.
Karlsson has been speaking to Aftonbladet about his situation in Bologna, who he joined in the summer in a move from AZ Alkmaar.
He’s had something of a difficult start to life in Italy, with five appearances and no goals in Serie A so far and just 50% of the available minutes under his belt.
Part of the problem has been his inability to speak the language.
That’s made things tricky for a player looking to not only establish himself at a new club but also learn his new manager’s systems and everything else.
He knows all about living in Italy and speaking the lingo after spells with Atalanta, Parma and Juventus before his move to Tottenham on loan in January 2022.
And it seems he was happy to share that with his international teammate recently, although Karlsson is not sure he can trust what he’s been told.
“It has been a bit of an ordeal the first month. Even if you ask someone to translate, something is always missed. I think the language will be an important part,” he said.
“I go to lessons and sit at home and try to learn. Dejan and I had a lesson in the sauna last night, so I’m testing myself in different ways.
“He is so convinced every time he says something, so I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I have to trust it. He has good self-confidence when it comes to Italian and languages, so I listen to him.”
